California OAH special education order · November 14, 2019
Order Denying Leave to Exceed Page Limit
OAH Case No. 2019080644 · ALJ Alexa Hohensee
OAH denied Student's untimely request to exceed the closing-brief page limit and denied Los Angeles's motion to strike, but will disregard the three over-limit pages summarizing remedies.
This case went to decision
Student v. Los Angeles Unified School District: Los Angeles Unified prevails on placement, communication services, ESY device, and training claims for 18-year-old student. (2019)
Summary
Student filed an 18-page closing brief, longer than the ALJ's 15-page limit, and asked for leave to exceed the limit on the same day. Los Angeles moved to strike the brief. OAH denied Student's request as untimely because neither the district nor the ALJ could respond before the brief was filed. OAH also denied the motion to strike because the cited statute applies only to pleadings, not closing briefs. Under its authority to manage the hearing, OAH declined to consider the last three pages. It found no prejudice to Student because those pages only restated the remedies already in the complaint and in expert testimony the ALJ heard.
Why it matters
Follow the ALJ's page and formatting limits for closing briefs, and ask for extra pages well before the deadline. Pages over the limit may simply be ignored, so put key arguments within the allowed length.
Key authority cited
- Code Civ. Proc., § 436
- Gov. Code, § 11512(b)
Topics
Full text of the order
Published text of the OAH order. Page headers and numbers from the original PDF have been dropped.
BEFORE THE
OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE MATTER OF:
PARENT ON BEHALF OF STUDENT,
v.
LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT.
OAH CASE NUMBER 2019080644
ORDER DENYING LEAVE TO EXCEED PAGE LIMIT
On October 28, 2019, Student simultaneously filed his closing brief and a request for leave to exceed the page limit imposed on the closing briefs on the last day of hearing by Administrative Law Judge Alexa Hohensee, Office of Administrative Hearings.
The Office of Administrative Hearings will be referred to as OAH, and the Administrative Law Judge will be referred to as an ALJ.
On October 29, 2019, Los Angeles Unified School District filed a motion to strike Student’s closing brief as not in conformity with the ALJ’s order.
The ALJ’s order limited the parties to 15 pages at 1.5 line spacing. Student’s closing brief was 18 pages long, and included a page numbered “0” and single spacing on the last two pages. The last three pages of Student’s closing brief consist of a summary of Student’s remedies request.
Student’s request was untimely made. By the time the motion was brought, it was too late for Los Angeles to file an objection, or for the ALJ to consider the request, before the closing brief was filed. Accordingly, Student’s motion is denied.
However, the statute cited by Los Angeles authorizes a judge to strike all or a part of a pleading (Code of Civ. Proc., § 436), and a closing brief is not a pleading.
Accordingly, Los Angeles’ motion to strike is denied.
However, Student’s closing brief is not in conformity with the page limitation order. The ALJ in a due process hearing has the authority to make such orders as necessary to the orderly conduct of the hearing. (Govt. Code, § 11512(b).)
Here, the last three pages of Student’s closing brief do no more than summarize the relief requested and recommended by Student’s expert witnesses. The relief requested was already set forth in Student’s request for due process, and the ALJ was present and heard the witness testimony. Therefore, there is no prejudice to Student if the ALJ does not consider the pages of Student’s closing brief in excess of the page limitation order.
Accordingly, the last three pages of Student’s closing brief, which are in excess of the page limitation order, were not, and will not be, considered by the ALJ.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: November 14, 2019 Alexa Hohensee Administrative Law Judge Office of Administrative Hearings