Xavier Gutierrez v. United States of America

Opinion

1 TODD BLANCHE Deputy Attorney General of the United States 2 SIGAL CHATTAH First Assistant United States Attorney 3 District of Nevada Nevada Bar Number 8264 4 MARILYN E. GARTLEY 5 Assistant United States Attorney U.S. Attorney’s Office 6 501 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 1100 Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 7 Telephone: 702-388-5084 Email: marilyn.gartley@usdoj.gov 8 Attorneys for Federal Defendant 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEVADA 10 XAVIER GUTIERREZ, Case No.: 2:25-cv-02360-RFB-BNW 11 Plaintiff, MOTION TO APPROVE 12 STIPULATION ALLOWING LATE- v. FILED ANSWER AND 13 EXTENDING TIME FOR FILING UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ANSWER 14 Defendant. (FIRST REQUEST) 15 16 17 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that in accordance with LR IA 6-1 and LR IA 6-1, the 18 United States of America (the “Federal Defendant”) and Xavier Gutierrez (“Plaintiff”),1 by 19 and through their respective undersigned counsels, do hereby respectfully move the Court to 20 approve the following stipulation setting aside the Federal Defendant’s failure to file a timely 21 answer and further agreeing to allow, notwithstanding the expiration of the originally 22 prescribed time period, an enlargement of time of 35 days from the originally prescribed 23 deadline or until March 7, 2026, for the Federal Defendant to file an answer to the Complaint2 24 filed by the Plaintiff pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1)(B) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(c) in 25 conjunction with Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(d) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 7(b)(1). 26 1 Collectively, the Plaintiff and the Federal Defendant are referred to herein as the Parties. 27 2 The Complaint refers to the Complaint commencing this litigation filed by the Plaintiff in this Court on November 25, 2025 (ECF No. 1). 1 1. As a consequence of funding lapses and changes to personnel, the Federal Defendant’s 2 counsel first filed a notice of appearance in this matter on February 11, 2026. ECF No. 6. 3 2. The Federal Defendant was served with the Complaint on December 2, 2025, ECF 4 No. 5, whereby, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(2) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b), the Federal 5 Defendant’s answer was required to be filed by January 31, 2026. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(2); 6 Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b). 7 3. This is the first request sought by the Federal Defendant for an extension of the 8 deadlines by which the Federal Defendant must file their answer to the Complaint or 9 responsive motion to the Complaint. 10 4. The Parties both submit that the instant stipulation is being offered to the Court for 11 approval in good faith and not for the purpose of delay. Cf. In re Sonoma V., 703 F.2d 429, 12 431–432 (9th Cir. 1983) (citing Orange Theatre Corp. v. Rayherstz Amusement Corp., 130 F.2d 13 185, 187 (3d Cir. 1942) (en banc); 2 J. Moore & J. Lucas, Moore's Federal Practice, § 6.08, at 14 § 1500.74 & n. 9; 4 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1165, at 627–28 & 15 n.83 (1969)) (parties may not agree to enlargement of time under Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b) without 16 court approval). 17 5. In light of the foregoing, the Parties do hereby agree and stipulate that the Federal 18 Defendant shall have until March 7, 2026, to file an answer to the Complaint. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 || Respectfully submitted this 19th day of February 2026. 2 3 || SIGAL CHATTAH LAIRD LAW PLLC 4 First Assistant United States Attorney 5 || /s/_Marilyn E. Gartley /s/__Daniel O. Laird MARILYN E. GARTLEY DANIEL O. LAIRD, M.D., J.D. 6 || Assistant United States Attorney Nevada Bar No. 11831 marilyn.gartley@usdoj.gov 4175 S. Riley St., Ste. 102 7 Attorneys for Federal Defendant Las Vegas, NV 89147 g Dan@LairdLaw.com Attorneys for Plaintiff 9 10 1] 12 13 14 IT IS SO ORDERED: 15 . 16 wt J pcr MAGISTRATE JUDGE - 18 19 DATED: February 20, 2026 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 Certificate of Service 2 I hereby certify that on February 20, 2026, I electronically filed and served the 3 foregoing Motion to Approve Stipulation Allowing Late-Filed Answer and Extending Time 4 for Filing Answer with the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the 5 District of Nevada using the court’s electronic filing and service system.

6 /s/ Marilyn E. Gartley 7 MARILYN E. GARTLEY Assistant United States Attorney 8 Attorneys for Federal Defendants

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