DEFENDANT'S UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF'S REPLY TO DEFENDANT'S CROSS-MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

EDMUND F. BRENNAN, Magistrate Judge.

MOTION

Defendant requests leave from the Court to file a response to Plaintiff's reply to Defendant's cross-motion for summary judgment and opposition to Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (hereinafter Plaintiff's reply or reply), filed May 2, 2018 (Doc. No. 27).

There is good cause for this request. Plaintiff has alerted the Court for the first time in the litigation of this case, the issue of a subsequent grant of Social Security benefits awarded on or around November 14, 2017, in his reply filed May 2, 2018 (see Doc. No. 27 at Section II(A)). In his reply, Plaintiff argues that the subsequent grant of benefits is a basis of remand for immediate payment of benefits (see, e.g., Doc. No. 27 at 1-4 at Section (II)(A)). Defendant requests the opportunity to respond to Plaintiff's reply on the issue presented at Section II(A), since the issue had not yet been presented to the Court or argued in Plaintiff's pleadings at any point before Defendant filed her opposition and cross-motion for summary judgment (see Doc. Nos. 15, 26).

Due to Defendant's counsel heavy workload this month, Defendant is respectfully requesting 28 days to respond to Plaintiff's reply on the issue at Section II (A) of Doc. No. 27, to and including Wednesday, May 30, 2018.

On May 9, 2018, and prior occasions, Defendant's counsel contacted Plaintiff to notify him of Defendant's intention to request leave from the Court to respond to the substance of Plaintiff's reply argument presented in Section II(A) of Doc. No. 27. On those occasions and May 9, 2018, Plaintiff indicated that he had no objection to the requests in this motion.

ORDER

APPROVED AND SO ORDERED.