Saroyan Lumber Co. v. El & El Wood Products Corp.

MEMORANDUM **

Saroyan Lumber Company, Inc., appeals the denial of Saroyan’s motion to withdraw admissions and the grant of defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Saroyan’s admissions were deemed as such by operation of law when Saroyan failed to timely respond to defendants’ request for admissions. Fed.R.Civ.P. 36(a). Saroyan did not move to withdraw the deemed admissions until after the discovery cut-off date and after defendants filed their motion for summary judgment. Saroyan’s motion was filed the same day as, and was the primary basis for, its opposition to summary judgment.

Saroyan makes only two contentions on appeal. First, Saroyan contends that the district court abused its discretion in denying Saroyan’s motion to withdraw admissions because presentation of the merits of the action would be subserved and defendants would suffer no prejudice from the withdrawal. Fed.R.Civ.P. 36(b). The district court found that the first prong is satisfied here but that withdrawal would prejudice the defendants. “The prejudice contemplated by Rule 36(b) ‘... relates to the difficulty a party may face in proving its case, e.g., ... because of the sudden need to obtain evidence’ with…