Free Memorandum in Opposition to Motion - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

Case 3:03-cv-00118-MRK

Document 74

Filed 03/08/2004

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

LORI RAYMOND, CARMEN GONZALEZ, MIGDALIA MENDEZ, KIMBERLY DADE, MARY PAVLIK, DARRYL PAULDING, TERRI KEATON, ELMORE SWEET, JUDITH SHEPAUM, GLORIA GORDON, KAREN MORIN and DONNA MCMAHON Plaintiffs, Individually and as representatives of all persons similarly situated v. JOHN ROWLAND, Governor of Connecticut, PATRICIA WILSON-COKER Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Social Services, In their official capacities, Defendants :

CIVIL ACTION NO. 303 CV 0118 (JBA)

MARCH 5, 2004

MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSTION OF MOTION TO INTERVENE ARIEL LOPEZ The plaintiffs have filed a motion to intervene Ariel Lopez as an intervening plaintiff. The defendant objects to said motion because it is untimely. This action was filed on January 16, 2003. Pursuant to Paragraph 2(a) of the standard Order on Scheduling in Civil Cases, unless otherwise ordered by the presiding Judge, all motions related to joinder of parties were due within 60 days after the filing of the Complaint, or by March 17, 2003. The parties' March 4, 2003 Planning Meeting Report jointly requested a deadline of April 15, 2003 to file motions to join additional parties or to file motions to amend the pleadings. The scheduling order issued by Judge Arterton on April 11, 2003 was silent on the question of a deadline for joinder of parties, and provided that any amended pleading must be filed by April 29, 2003. Since the Scheduling Order of April 11, 2003, did not modify the

Case 3:03-cv-00118-MRK

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deadline for joinder of parties set by the Standard Order, the 60 day deadline (from the filing of the Complaint), or March 17, 2003 remains in effect. The motion to intervene Ariel Lopez is filed almost one year after the deadline for adding new parties, and should be denied accordingly as untimely. The fact that a motion for class certification is pending (based upon the first amended complaint) further supports denial of the motion to intervene Ariel Lopez. Plaintiffs represent in that motion that the existing plaintiffs are adequate and appropriate class representatives, and that the claims of the existing named plaintiffs are "representative" and "typical" of the claims of the class as a whole. Intervention of proposed intervenor Ariel Lopez, therefore, is not only

untimely, intervention is also unnecessary and will cause additional delay and burden due to the need to conduct additional discovery. No exceptional reason is present to warrant the

intervention of an additional plaintiff. Specifically, there is no threat of mootness to the claims of the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs' motion to intervene Ariel Lopez should be denied for all of the foregoing reasons.

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THE DEFENDANTS JOHN ROWLAND, GOVERNOR STATE OF CONNECTICUT PATRICIA WILSON-COKER, COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES RICHARD BLUMENTHAL ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: __/s/_______________________________ Hugh Barber Assistant Attorney General Federal Bar No. ct05731 55 Elm Street P.O. Box 120 Hartford, CT 06141-0120 Tel: (860) 808-5210 Fax: (860) 808-5385

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CERTIFICATION

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing Memorandum in Opposition of Motion to Intervene Ariel Lopez was mailed in accordance with Rule 5(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on this 5th day of March, 2004, first class postage prepaid to:

Shirley Bergert, Esq. Connecticut Legal Services, Inc. 872 Main Street P.O. Box 258 Willimantic, CT 06226 Lucy Potter, Esq. Greg Bass, Esq. Connecticut Legal Services, Inc. 999 Asylum Avenue 3rd Floor Hartford, CT 06105-2465 Sharon Langer, Esq. Caitlin J. Simon, Esq. Connecticut Legal Services, Inc. 587 Main Street New Britain, CT 06051

Nadine Nevins, Esq. Connecticut Legal Services 211 State Street Bridgeport, CT 06604 Amy D. Marx, Esq. Connecticut Legal Services 20 Summer Street Stamford, CT 06901

Joanne Gibau, Esq. New Haven Legal Services 426 State Street New Haven, CT 06510

/s/_________________________________________ Hugh Barber Assistant Attorney General

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