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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS DIVISION OF ST CROIX CORLEEN PETERSEN AS THE PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CORLINA COLLINS Cm] No SX 14 CV 015 PLAINTIFF ACTION FOR MEDICAL MALPRACTICE v. JURY TRIAL DEMANDED DR JEFFREY CHASE, DR ADAM FLOWERS ALEX PITMA PA,AND THE CITE AS 2021 v1 SUPERXML VIRGIN ISLANDS HOSPITALS & HEALTH FACILITIES CORPORATION DEFENDANTS Ronald E Russell, Esq The Russell Law Firm Kingshill, U S Virgin Islands For Plamnfl‘ Patricia Quinland, Esq Virgin Islands Department of Justioe Kingshill, U S Virgin Islands For Defendant Dr Jefiey Chase MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER WILLOCKS Presiding Judge THIS MATTER is before the Court sua sponte for review BACKGROUND On January 30, 2014, Plaintiff Corlina Collins (hereinafter “Collins) filed a complaint against Defendant Dr Jeffrey Chase (hereinafter “Chase”), Defendant Dr John Doe, Defendant Jane Doe, and Defendant Schneider Regional Medical Center (hereinafter “SRMC”) in connection with the medical treatment she received during the period of June 12, 2013 through August 27, 2013 The complaint included one count of negligence against all the defendants ' On March 18, 2014, James L Hymes, III, Esq of the Law Offices ofJames L Hymes, III, P C filed a notice of appearance for Chase and SRMC On that same date, Chase and SRMC filed their answer and affirmative defenses in response to Collins’ complaint On June 2, 2014, this matter was reassigned from the Honorable Douglas A Brady to the Honorable Robert A Molloy On August 13, 2014, Collins filed a motion to amend complaint “to substitute the names ‘Dr John Doe’ and ‘Dr Jane Doe’ as Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA, respectively” and “to add additional facts related to the injuries asserted in the original complaint ” A redline copy of the proposed first amended complaint reflectmg the changes made to the initial complaint and a clean copy of the proposed first amended complaint were attached to Collins’ August 13, 2014 motion to amend complaint 2 On December 10, 2015, the Court entered an order whereby the Court granted Collins’ August 13, 2014 motion to amend complaint, ordered Collins to amend the complaint and cure the deficiencies identified in the order within thirty days after the date of entry of the order, ordered that failure to cure these deficiencies may result in dismissal of this matter for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and ordered that copies of the order provided to Ronald E Russell, Esq , ' Collins did not set forth the specific name of the count in her complaint Nevertheless, based on the allegations contained in her complaint, the Court deduced that Collins alleged a cause of action for negligence 2 The captions of the redline copy and the clean copy of the proposed first amended complaint reflected Collins as the 51:33:33};t‘;Dr Jeffrey Chase, Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and Schneider Regional Medical Center” as counsel of record for Collins, and James L Hymes, III , Esq In the December 10, 2015 order the Court explained The Court finds that none of the apparent or declared reasons which cause it to deny Plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint are present in this case Furthermore, the Court finds that justice requires adding these defendants to the complaint Permitting the Plaintiff to add these parties by name will allow this matter to be better decrded on its merits Finally, there is no indication that Defendants will be prejudlced by the Court permitting Plaintiff to amend its complaint Accordingly, the Court will allow Plaintiff to amend the complaint to list these defendants by name, and to add additional facts germane to this matter Next, the Court turns to other deficiencies in the complaint Plaintiff’s complaint alleges negligence on the part of various government doctors and other government employees under the Virgin Islands Medical Malpractice Act (MMA) and the Virgin Islands Tort Claims Act (VITCA) In order to allege claims under these statutes a claimant must comply with various filing requirements The procedural requirements of the MMA are set out in 27 V I C § 166i The pre filing requirements ofthe MMA are jurisdictional and a plaintiff's failure to adhere to these requirements precludes this Court from exercising jurisdiction over the claims Brady, 55 VI at 815 ("the plain language and historical purpose of the statute clearly indicate that the Legislature intended the pre filing requirements of 27 V I C § 166i to limit the authority of courts in this territory in adjudicating medical malpractice actions ") Additionally, because Plaintiff alleges a claim for medical malpractice against a governmental instrumentality, and against government employees of that instrumentality, the provisions of the VITCA also apply to the facts of this case James St Jules v Thompson 2015 V I LEXIS 74 at *14 (V I Super Ct June 25 2015) (citing Richardson v KnudHansen Mem‘l Hosp , 744 F 2d 1007 (3d Cir 1984)) The pre filing requirements of the MMA are jurisdictional, and a plaintiff‘s failure to adhere to these requirements precludes this Court from exercising jurisdiction over the claims Brady, 55 VI at 815 ("the plain language and historical purpose of the statute clearly indicate that the Legislature intended the pre filing requirements of 27 V I C § 166i to limit the authority of courts in this territory in adjudicating medical malpractice actions ") There is no indication from the complaint that Plaintiff has complied with the prefiling requirements of these statutes Instead, the complaint alleges in conclusory paragraphs that Plaintiff has complied with all requirements of the VITCA and MMA Compl 1H l3 14 Like those of the MMA, the pre filing requirements of the VITCA are jurisdictional and may not be waived James St Jules v Thompson, 2015 V I LEXIS 74, at * 14 16 (V I Super Ct June 25 2015) (further explaining that ' [t]he Third Circuit Court of Appeals and other Virgin Islands courts, however, have expressly held that a plaintiffs failure to comply with the procedural requirements of the VITCA precludes a court from exercising subject matter jurisdiction over such claims “) Because of these deficiencies, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction in this case However, at this stage, the Court does not find that allowing Plaintiff leave to amend her complaint to include allegations regarding the pre filing requirements of the MMA and VITCA would be futile (Dec 15 2015 Order pp 2 5) On January 11, 2016, Collins filed a notice ofcempliance with the Virgin Islands Medical Malpractice Act (hereinafter “VIMMA”) and the Virgin Islands Tort Claims Act (hereinafier “VITCA”) 3 In her January 11, 2016 notice, Collins advised the Court Plaintiff provided the required notice letter the proposed verified complaint via certified mail on or about September 13 2013 to the then Commissioner of Health, Governor of the Virgin Islands and the Virgin Islands Attorney General Plaintiff never received an opinion from the MMARC and afler 90 days as provided by statute Plaintiff filed her complaint in the Superior Court Plaintifffiled her complaint in the Superior Court on or about January 30, 2014 In addition Plaintiffprovided notice of the amendments via certified mail to the Governor and Attorney General Therefore, Plaintiff fully complied with all jurisdictional statutory requirements as stated in the [Court’s December 10, 2015 order] ” (Jan 11 2016 Notice p 1) Collins never filed a new proposed first amended complaint as ordered in the Court’s December 10 2015 order 4 3 The following documents were attached to Collins’ January 1 l, 2016 notice as exhibits (i) a copy ofa verified letter, dated September 3, 2013, from Ronald E Russell, Esq on behalf of Collins to “Hon Dance Plaskett, Commissioner, Depaitment of Health,” regarding “Filing of Proposed Complaint with Medical Malpractice Action Review Committee,” sent via certified mail and a copy of a verified letter, dated September 3, 2013, fi'orn Ronald E Russell, Esq on behalf of Collins to “Hon John P deJongh, Governor of the Virgin Islands,” regarding “Notice of Intention to File Claim,” sent via certified mail (Exhibit A), (ii) a copy ofthe proposed verified complaint, dated September 13, 2013, with certificate of service indicating that it was served on “Medical Malpractice Action Committee” and “Hon Darice Plaskett, Commissioner, Department ofHealth” (Exhibit B), and (iii) copies ofcertified mail receipt for “Hon Darice Plaskett, Commissioner, Department of Health,” “Medical Malpractice Action Committee,” “Vincent F Frazer, Esq , Attorney General, Department of Justice,” and “Hon John P deJongh, Governor of the Virgin Islands” (Exhibit C) ‘ The proposed first amended complaint attached to Collins’ August 13, 2014 motion to amend complaint was never deemed filed In fact, as noted above, the Court ordered Collins to amend the complaint and cure the deficiencies See Dec 10 2015 Order On May 6, 2016, James L Hymes, III , Esq , counsel for Chase and SRMC, and Dean Barnes, Esq of the Virgin Islands Department of Justice filed a copy of the stipulation for Dean Barnes, Esq to substitute as counsel for Chase and SRMC 5 On June 1, 2016, the Court entered an order whereby the Court granted the stipulation of substitution ofcounsel for Chase and SRMC On June 16, 2016, Dean Barnes, Esq , counsel for Chase and SRMC, and Johanna Harrington, Esq of the Virgin Islands Department of Justice filed a stipulation for Johanna Harrington, Esq to substitute as counsel for Chase and SRMC On July 5, 2016, the Court entered an order whereby the Court granted the stipulation of substitution ofcounsel for Chase and SRMC On February 5, 2018, Ronald E Russell, Esq filed a petition for appointment of personal representative whereby Ronald E Russell, Esq advised the Court that Collins died on January 10, 2018 and asked the Court to appoint Corleen Petersen (hereinafter “Petersen”), Collins’ adult niece, as the personal representative for Collins in this matter On March 7, 2018, Ronald E Russell, Esq filed a copy of the certificate of death for Collins to supplement his petition for appointment of personal representatlve No opposition was filed in response On March 16, 2018 the Court entered an order whereby the Court granted Ronald E Russell, Esq ’s petition for appointment of personal representative, and Corleen Petersen was appointed personal representative and substituted as the plaintiff in this matter for Collins On August 27, 2018, Petersen filed a motion for mediation 6 5 It appears than a duplicate copy ofthe stipulation for Dean Barnes, Esq to substitute as counsel for Chase and SRMC was filed on May 12 2016 6 Although Petersen was substituted as the plaintiff in this matter for Collins, the caption of the August 27, 2018 motion for mediation did not reflect Petersen as the plaintiff and instead, the caption still reflected Collins as the plamtiff Moreover, although Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA were substituted in for Dr John Doe and Dr Jane Doe, the caption ofthe August 27, 2018 motion for mediation did not reflect Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA as the defendants along with Dr Jeffrey Chase and Schneider Regional Medical Center, instead, the caption reflected “Dr Jeffrey Chase, Dr John Doe, Dr Jane Doe, and Schneider Regional Medical Center" as the defendants On March 12, 2019, Petersen filed a renewed motion for mediation 7 On March 13, 2019, this matter was reassigned from the Honorable Robert A Molloy to the Honorable Harold W L Willocks On April 4, 2019, the Court entered an order whereby the Court granted Petersen’s March 12, 2019 renewed motion for mediation and ordered that the parties shall mediate this action within sixty days from the date of the order On October 15, 2019, Petersen filed a motion to amend the complaint “to substitute the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation (VIHHFC) for Defendant Schnelder Regional Medical Center ”3 A redline copy of the proposed second amended complaint reflecting the changes made to the first amended complaint and a clean copy ofthe proposed second amended complaint were attached to Petersen’s October 15, 2019 motion to amend complaint 9 On February 18, 2020, the Court entered an order whereby the Court granted Petersen’s October 15, 2019 motion to amend complaint and deemed the second amended complaint filed as of October 15 2019 On March 13, 2020, a mediation report was filed by mediator Britain H Bryant, Esq According to the mediation report, “All Plaintiffs,” “Plaintiff’s trial counsel,” “All Defendants,” " Although Petersen was substituted as the plaintiff in this matter for Collins, the caption of the March 12, 2019 renewed motion for mediation did not reflect Petersen as the plaintiffand instead, the caption still reflected Collins as the plaintiff The caption of the March 12, 2019 simply reflected the defendants as “Dr Jefii'ey Chase, et a] ” ' Although Petersen was substituted as the plaintiff in this matter for Collins, the caption of the October IS, 2019 motion to amend complaint did not reflect Petersen as the plaintiff and instead, the caption still reflected Collins as the plaintiff Moreover, although Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA were substituted in for Dr John Doe and Dr Jane Doe, the caption of the October 15, 20l9 motion to amend complaint did not reflect Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA as the defendants along with Dr Jeffrey Chase and Schneider Regional Medical Center, mstead, the caption reflected “Dr Jeffi'ey Chase, Dr John Doe, Dr Jane Doe, and Schneider Regional Medical Center” as the defendants 9 The captions of the redline copy and the clean copy ofthe proposed second amended complaint reflected Collins as the plaintiff and “Dr Jeffrey Chase and The Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation” as the defendants and no longer reflected Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA as co defendants and “Defendant’s trial counsel” were present at the March 6, 2020 mediation, and that “Cannot complete settlement without CMS actual payout figure and local providers”, “Client records lost due to Hurricane Maria”; and “Work is ongoing ” On May 20, 2020, Petersen filed a notice ofRule 26 supplement whereby Petersen advised the Court that “the supplement provides the complete CMS package to Defendant” and that Petersen “served the mediator with the CMS information ” On December 8, 2020, Patricia Quinland, Esq ofthe Virgin Islands Department of Justice filed a notice of appearance for “Dr Jeffrey Chase, Dr John Doe, Dr Jane Doe, Schneider Regional Medical Center ” As ofthe date ofthis Memorandum Opinion and Order, no responsive pleadings have been filed in response to Petersen’s second amended complaint DISCUSSION In reviewing the file, it has come to the Court’s attentlon that there are several housekeeping matters that must be addressed They will be discussed in turn 1 Caption The caption in this matter has not been amended to correctly reflect the true parties First, although Petersen was appointed personal representative and substituted as the plaintiff in this matter for Collins per the Court’s March 16, 2018 order, the caption has yet to be amended to reflect such substitutlon Second, according to Petersen’s October 15, 2019 motion to amend complaint, Petersen moved “to substitute the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation (VIHHFC) for Defendant Schneider Regional Medical Center ” However, as noted above, the captions of the redline copy and the clean copy of the proposed second amended complaint only reflected “Dr Jeffrey Chase and The Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation” as the defendants in this matter and no longer reflected Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA as co defendants It is unclear whether this was intentional meaning, Petersen dismissed Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA in her second amended complaint and they are no longer parties to this lawsuit, or this was unintentional meaning, Petersen inadvertently removed Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA from the caption in her second amended complaint but they are still parties to this lawsuit In light of the fact that the second amended complaint still referenced Dr Adam Flowers as “Defendant Dr Adam Flowers” (Compl 1] 12) and Alex Pitman, PA as “Defendant Alex Pittman” (Compl ‘. 13), the Court concludes that Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA were unintentionally left off the caption As such, pursuant to Rule 15 2 of Virgin Islands Rules of Civil Procedure,10 the Court will amend the caption to reflect the true parties (i) “Corleen Petersen, as the personal representative for Corlina Collins” as the plaintiff in this matter and (ii) “Dr Jeffrey Chase, Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and The Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation” as the defendants in this matter 2 Subject Matter Jurisdiction It has not been continued that the Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this matter As noted above, Collins never filed a new proposed first amended complaint to cure the deficiencies as ordered in the Court’s December 10, 2015 order, and instead, filed the January 11, '° Rule 15 2 of Virgin Islands Rules of Civil Procedure provides that “[t]he court may amend any process or pleading fvorI alt?835153011153 defect therein, or for any variance between the complaint and the evidence adduced at the trial ” 2016 notice advising the Court that she was in compliance with the VIMMA“ and the VITCA ‘2 Nevertheless, the original complaint, the proposed first amended complaint, and the second amended complaint all indicated Collins’ compliance with the VIMMA and the VITCA therein, albeit in a conclusory fashion without any indication of actual compliance '3 Upon review of Collins’ January 11, 2016 notice and the exhibits attached thereto, the Court finds that Collins has complied with the pre filing requirements under the VIMMA and the VITCA As such, the Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this matter " According to the VIMMA, the statute of limitations to bring a medical malpractice claim is two years “fi'om the date of the alleged act, omission or neglect ’ but “a toll ofthe statute of limitations shall operate for any period during which the health care provider had actual knowledge of any act, omission or neglect or knowledge of facts which would reasonably indicate such act, omission or neglect which is the basis for a malpractice claim and failed to disclose such fact to the patient ” Title 27 V I C § i66d(a) However, “[n]o action against a health care provider may be commenced in court before the claimant's proposed complaint has been filed with the [Medical Malpractice Action Review] Committee and the [Medical Malpractice Action Review] Committee has received the expert opinion as required by this section, provided, that if said opinion is not received by the [Medical Malpractice Action Review] Committee within ninety days from the date the complaint was filed with the [Medical Malpractice Action Review] Committee, the claimant may commence his action against the health care provider in court ” Title 27 V I C § 166i(b) “The proposed complaint shall be deemed filed when a copy is delivered or mailed by registered or certified mail to the Commissioner of Health ” Title 27 V l C § 166i(c) As noted in the December 15, 2015 order, “[tlhe pre filing requirements ofthe MMA are jurisdictional, and a plaintiff's failure to adhere to these requirements precludes this Court from exercising jurisdiction over the claims ” (Dec 15, 2015 Order p 4) '2 According to the VITCA, “[n]o judgment shall be granted in favor ofany claimant unless such claimant shall have complied with the provisions of this section applicable to his claim (c) a claim to recover damages for injuries to property or for personal injury caused by the tort of an officer or employee of the Govemment of the United States Virgin Islands while acting as such officer or employee, shall be filed within ninety days afier the accrual of such claim unless the claimant shall within such time file a written notice of intention to file a claim therefor, in which event the claim shall be filed within two years afier the accrual of such claim ” Title 33 V I C § 3409(c) The Virgin Islands Supreme Court has not yet determined if the deadlines in the VITCA are jurisdictional or claims processing rules See Fleming v Cruz, 62 V I 702, 718 n 13 (VI 2015) (“In this case, we do not decide whether the VITCA’s claim filing requirements are jurisdictional, and affirm the trial court's decision on this aspect of the appeal based only upon the clear and unexcused failure of Fleming to comply with plain language of the statutory requirements We leave a decision on whether the VlTCA's claim filing mandates are jurisdictional for another day ") Nevertheless, the Court need not address this issue since Collins timely filed her notice of intention and timely commenced her lawsuit under the VITCA ‘3 In Collins’ original complaint, proposed first amended complaint, and second amended complaint, Collins alleged 13 That Plaintiffcomplied with all requirements ofV 1 Code Ann Tit 33 §§ 3408 3416 14 That Plaintiff complied with all requirements of V 1 Code Ann , Tit 27, §§ 166(a m), as amended (Comp! 11113 14 Proposed PAC 71 I3 14 SAC 1H i3 14) 3 Personal Jurisdiction It is unclear whether the Court has personal jurisdiction over the defendants First, Collins’ August 13, 2014 motion to amend complaint was served only upon James L Hymes, III, Esq , then counsel of record for Chase and SMRC, and the Court December 10, 2015 order granting Collins’ August 13, 2014 motion to amend complaint was served only upon Ronald E Russell, Esq and James L Hymes, III, Esq Thus, it is unclear whether Dr Adam Flowers and Alex Pitman, PA were ever served with the proposed first amended complaint since they were never served with Collins’ August 13, 2014 motion to amend complaint or the Court December 10, 2015 order Second, Petersen’s October 15, 2019 motion to amend complaint was served only upon Dean Barnes, Esq , former counsel of record for Chase and SMRC, and the Court’s February 18, 2020 order granting Petersen’s October 15, 2019 motion to amend complaint was served only upon Ronald E Russell, Esq and Dean Barnes, Esq Thus, it is unclear (i) whether Chase was ever served with the second amended complaint since Johanna Harrington, Esq , then counsel ofrecord for Chase and SMRC, was never served with Petersen’s October 15, 2019 motion to amend complaint or the Court’s February 18, 2020 order and (ii) whether Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation were ever served with the second amended complaint since no proofs of service have been filed and there is no indication that they were served with Petersen’s October 15, 2019 motion to amend complaint or the Court’s February 18 2020 order Here, the Court has personal jurisdiction over Chase because he has already appeared in this matter See Estate ofSkepple v Bank ofNova Scam: 69 V I 700 745 46 (V I 2018) ( when a party voluntarily appears, the court obtains jurisdiction over her person, and service is unnecessary ”) On the other hand, Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation have not appeared in this matter '4 Thus, ifDr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation were not served with the second amended complaint, then the Court does not have personal jurisdiction over them See Atrium VI LLC v Atrium Stafling LLC 69 V I 259 275 76 (Super Ct Aug 9 2018) (“Adequate notice, and thus personal jurisdiction, is achieved via valid service ofprocess in most instances ”), see also Joseph v Daily News Publzshmg Co Inc, 57 V I 566, 580, n 4 (V I 2012) (noting in dicta, in a case which reviewed a granting of summary judgment, that “service of process unless waived by a general appearance is a prerequisite to the Superior Court obtaining personal jurisdiction over a defendant” and then citing, for legal authority for that assertion, 5 V I C § 115 and its language establishing that a “voluntary appearance of the defendant shall be equivalent to personal service ofthe summons upon him ”) As such, the Court will order Petersen to file proofs ofservice for Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation for the second amended complaint 4 Response to the Second Amended Complaint None ofthe defendants have filed a response to Petersen’s second amended complaint '4 The notice of appearance filed by Patricia Quinland, Esq on December 8, 2020 indicated that she appeared as counsel for “Dr Jeffi~ey Chase, Dr John Doe, Dr Jane Doe, Schneider Regional Medical Center” and no other defendants Thus, at this time, no notices ofappearances have been filed for Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation and there are no counsel of record for Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation a Chase Although Patricia Quinland, Esq filed a notice ofappearance for Chase subsequent to the Court’s February 18, 2020 order granting Petersen’s motion to amend complaint and deeming the second amended complaint filed, Chase has not yet filed a response to Petersen’s second amended complaint Rule 15 of the Virgin Islands Rules of Civil Procedure provides that “[u]nless a statute of the Virgin Islands or a court orders otherwise, any required response to an amended pleading must be made within the time remaining to respond to the original pleading or within 14 days afier service of the amended pleading, whichever is later ’ V I R CIV P 15(a)(3) Here, the deadline for Chase to file a responsive pleading to the second amended complaint has long expired ‘5 While Chase may argue that he was and still is trying to resolve this matter with Petersen by mediation, the fact is that this matter is still pending before the Court The Court has never entered a stay in this matter, and until the Court orders so, this matter is still an active case Thus, the issue remains that Chase has not filed an answer Under Rule 6 ofthe Virgin Islands Rules of Civil Procedure, “[w]hen an act is required or allowed to be done by or within a specified period, the court may upon a showing of good cause or excusable neglect, extend the date for doing that act” and “[t]he court may consider whether the request to extend time is made before or after the required date, the reason for the movant's delay, whether the reason for delay was within the reasonable control of the movant, the danger of prejudice to the parties, the length of the delay; the potential impact of the delay on judicial proceedings, whether the party seeking the extension has acted in good faith, and all other relevant '5 The 14 day deadline has long expired even assuming that the clock for Chase to file a responsive pleading did not start ticking until December 8, 2020 when Patricia Quinland, Esq filed her notice of appearance for Chase, since Petersen’s October 15, 2019 motion to amend and the Court’s February 18, 2020 order were not served on Johanna Harrington, Esq , then counsel of record for Chase circumstances surrounding the party's failure to meet the originally prescribed deadline ” V I R Clv P 6(b) “The Supreme Court ofthe Virgin Islands has held that ‘excusable neglect’ and ‘good cause’ are ‘essentially synonyms ”’ Arno v Hess Corp , 71 V I 463, 480 (Super Ct Oct 17, 2019) (quoting Montgomery v Vzrgm Grand Villas St John Owners' Ass'n, 71 V I 1119, 1127 (V I 2019) (citation omitted» In taking into account all relevant circumstances surrounding Chase’s failure to file its answer by the prescribed deadline, the Court finds that there is good cause for a discretionary extension to wit, (i) the reason for Chase’s delay in filing his answer is presumably because Chase was and still is trying to resolve this matter with Petersen by mediation and Petersen never took any actions against Chase for his failure to file its answer by the prescribed deadline, (ii) there is no indication that by extending the time for Chase to file his answer presents any danger ofprejudice to the other parties in fact, as noted above, it is unclear whether the other defendants in this matter have been served and if they were served, they have not filed their answers to the second amended complaint, and (iii) although it has been almost 18 months since the Court entered the order granting Petersen’s October 15, 2019 motion to amend complaint, the potential impact of the delay on the judicial proceedings is minimal and the length of the delay is a nonissue because, as the Courtjust noted, it is unclear whether the other defendants in this matter have been served and ifthey were served, they have not filed their answers to the second amended complaint As such, the Court will grant Chase a discretionary extension of time for Chase to file his answer to the second amended complaint '6 "5 While the parties may question the necessity for Chase to file an answer given that he was and still is trying to resolve this matter with Petersen by mediation, the Court finds that it is legally and procedurally sound in this instance to have Chase file an answer Otherwise, the Court would be setting a bad precedent that may be viewed as an invitation to litigants to eirciunvent the applicable rules of this Court such as filing a timely responsive pleading and effectively obliterate those rules b Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation As noted above, Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation have not filed their respective responses to Petersen’s second amended complaint, but it is unclear whether they were ever served Thus, the Court will address this issue, if necessary, after Petersen files proofs of service as ordered 5 Mediation It is unclear which defendant(s) were and still are trying to resolve this matter with Petersen by mediation While the mediation report filed on March 13, 2020 indicated that “All Plaintiffs,” “Plaintiff’s trial counsel,” “All Defendants,” and “Defendant’s trial counsel” were present, there is no indication ofthe names of the defendants and counsel that were present As such, the Court will order Petersen to file a notice advising the Court of the names of the defendants and defense counsel present at the March 6, 2020 mediation and the status of the mediation since Petersen “served the mediator with the CMS information” on May 20, 2020 6 Going Forward At this juncture, there is no arguing that this case is a procedural mess The Court must express its concern with the parties’ blatant disregard ofthe Court’s orders and the applicable rules of this Court and cautions that, moving forward, the Court expects the parties to comply with the Court’s orders and all the applicable mics ofthis Court or otherwise be sanctioned It is the Court’s wish, with the patties’ help, to keep the record of this 2014 matter as orderly and as clear as possible CONCLUSION Based on the foregoing, the Court will amend the caption, order Petersen to file proofs of service for Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation for the second amended complaint, grant Chase a discretionary extension of time to file his answer to the second amended complaint, and order Petersen to file notice advising the Court the names of the defendant(s) and defense counsel present at the March 6, 2020 mediation and the status of the mediation Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that the caption in this matter shall be amended to reflect the true parties (i) “Corleen Petersen, as the personal representative for Corlina Collins” as the plaintiff in this matter and (ii) “Dr Jeffrey Chase, Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation” as the defendants in this matter It is further ORDERED that, within fifteen (15) days from the entry ofthis Memorandum Opinion and Order, Petersen shall file (i) proofs of service for Dr Adam Flowers, Alex Pitman, PA, and the Virgin Islands Hospitals and Health Facilities Corporation for the second amended complaint and (ii) a notice advising the Court the names of the defendant(s) and defense counsel present at the March 6, 2020 mediation and the status of the mediation since Petersen “served the mediator with the CMS information” on May 20, 2020 It is further ORDERED that a discretionary extension oftime for Chase to file his answer to the second amended complaint is GRANTED and Chase shall file his answer within fifteen (15) days from the entry of this Memorandum Opinion and Order 9““ DONE and so ORDERED this day ofQua 2021 ATTEST WM Tamara Charles HARO D W L WILLOCKS Cler 6 Court Presiding Judge of the Superior Court By 2M/vé cart Clerk Supemser 3'7“ Dated M517: