Opinion ID: 471407
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Dismissal of Mocabee as Party Plaintiff

Text: 31 Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 21, the district court sua sponte dropped Mocabee from this suit observing that because he was not a named party in the Hickman and Bass lawsuits, no state judgments were awarded against him. Therefore, he was not damaged by Liberty's alleged breach of contract. The court also construed Mocabee's damage claims for lost business as stockholder claims subsumed in Lampliter's prosecution of this case. 32 Mocabee argues that he was improperly dropped because he is a named insured in both the 1978 and 1981 policies, he is the principal stockholder in Lampliter, and owned the business premises that Lampliter leased. He contends that he has been damaged the most by Liberty's alleged breach. He argues that whether Liberty's breach was the proximate cause of his injuries and the extent of those injuries are questions for a trier of fact. 9 33 Rule 21 provides that a court may drop a party on its own initiative at any stage of the action and on such terms as are just. Dropping or adding a party to a lawsuit pursuant to Rule 21 is left to the sound discretion of the trial court. See Williams v. Hoyt, 556 F.2d 1336, 1341 (5th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 946, 98 S.Ct. 1530, 55 L.Ed.2d 544 (1978). Accordingly, the decision to drop Mocabee as a party to this suit will only be reversed if it constitutes an abuse of discretion. See Anderson v. Moorer, 372 F.2d 747, 750 n. 4 (5th Cir.1967). Mocabee does not argue that the district court's decision to drop him from this suit is an abuse of discretion; instead he claims it is a clearly erroneous factual determination. We note that no factual determination as to the propriety of Mocabee's claims has been made, Rule 21 primarily addresses parties, not factfinding. Nothing in the court's order prevents Mocabee from pursuing his individual claims in a separate suit. 10 Because trial courts are afforded great discretion in managing their dockets, we conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in dropping Mocabee as a plaintiff in this suit.