Amit P. Mehta, United States District Judge.
Before the court is yet another motion by Plaintiffs 12 Percent Logistics and the Small Business in Transportation Coalition concerning the public noticing of meetings of Defendant Unified Carrier Registration Plan Board. In this motion, Plaintiffs ask the court to cancel Defendant's ten subcommittee meetings that are scheduled for June 3 and June 5, 2018, and to hold Defendant in contempt for violating a January 29, 2018, court order enjoining Defendant, pending appeal, from holding subcommittee meetings "without first complying with the notice requirements of the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552b(e)." See generally Pls.' Emergency Mot. for the Ct. to Hold Def. Unified Carrier Registration Plan Board in Contempt of Ct. Order (DE 68) and Mem. in Supp., ECF No. 84 [hereinafter Pls.' Mot.]; see also Order, ECF No. 68.
For starters, the court denies Plaintiffs' motion for failure to meet and confer as required by Local Civil Rule 7(m). See LCvR 7(m) (requiring parties to meet and confer before the filing of any nondispositive motion). Plaintiffs admit that they failed to adhere to the meet-and-confer requirement. Pls.' Reply in Support of Emergency Mot. for Contempt, ECF No. 88 [hereinafter Pls.' Reply], at 3. They attempt to excuse their omission on the grounds that they learned late of the "emergent situation," i.e., the alleged violation of the court's order, and that Defendant's lead counsel was out of the country. See id. But those are not valid excuses. See United States ex rel. K & R Ltd. P'ship v. Mass. Hous. Fin. Agency, 456 F.Supp.2d 46, 52 (D.D.C. 2006) (concluding that a party's "most cursory attempt" to communicate with opposing counsel regarding a time-sensitive motion was inadequate). And the irony appears lost on Plaintiffs: While they insist on Defendant's strict compliance with the court's order, they themselves knowingly violated the court's local rules. Plaintiffs' violation of Local Civil Rule 7(m) is, on its own, reason to deny their motion. See, e.g., Ellipso, Inc. v. Mann, 460 F.Supp.2d 99, 102 (D.D.C. 2006) (denying discovery motions for lack of "any hint that [the parties] discussed
Plaintiffs' failure to meet and confer is no mere ministerial misstep. Had they done so, perhaps they would have realized that they could not meet the stringent standard to show civil contempt. To succeed on a motion for a finding of civil contempt, the movant must show, "by clear and convincing evidence, that: (1) there was a court order in place; (2) the order required certain conduct by the defendant; and (3) the defendant failed to comply with that order." Int'l Painters & Allied Trades Indus. Pension Fund v. ZAK Architectural Metal & Glass LLC, 736 F.Supp.2d 35, 38 (D.D.C. 2010) (citing Armstrong v. Exec. Office of the President, 1 F.3d 1274, 1289 (D.C. Cir.1993)). The movant also must establish that the order allegedly violated was clear and unambiguous. Id. Once the above three-part showing is made, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to provide adequate detailed proof justifying noncompliance. Id.
Here, as Defendant has demonstrated, Defendant's notices for the upcoming subcommittee meetings substantially complied with the court's order requiring it to adhere to the notice requirements of the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552b(e).
For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs' Emergency Motion is denied.
Order, ECF No. 68.