Opinion ID: 723801
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion to Amend or Alter the Judgment

Text: 13 The plaintiffs also appeal the district court's denial of their motion to alter or amend the judgment in favor of Shell. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e). We review the district court's decision for abuse of discretion. LB Credit Corp. v. Resolution Trust Corp., 49 F.3d 1263, 1267 (7th Cir.1995). 14 The plaintiffs asserted in their Rule 59(e) motion that genuine issues of material fact existed as to their PMPA and Sherman Act claims. In support of the motion, the plaintiffs submitted a second affidavit of Moro that contained statements not found in Moro's initial affidavit filed in opposition to Shell's summary judgment motion. The plaintiffs also submitted the affidavits of two service station employees, Patricia Mantia and Raphael Whitehead, as well as a statement of Genuine Issues of Material Fact. 15 Rule 59(e) allows a party to direct the district court's attention to newly discovered material evidence or a manifest error of law or fact, and enables the court to correct its own errors and thus avoid unnecessary appellate procedures. Russell v. Delco Remy Div. of General Motors Corp., 51 F.3d 746, 749 (7th Cir.1995). The rule does not provide a vehicle for a party to undo its own procedural failures, and it certainly does not allow a party to introduce new evidence or advance arguments that could and should have been presented to the district court prior to the judgment. LB Credit Corp., 49 F.3d at 1267. 16 The plaintiffs failed to offer any explanation at all as to why the information contained in the affidavits was not available to them when they opposed Shell's summary judgment motion. Surely Moro himself was available to provide the information contained in the second affidavit at that time. The same goes for Mantia and Whitehead. In short, all of the evidence submitted by the plaintiffs in support of the Rule 59(e) motion was available to them during the summary judgment proceedings. Their attempt to show a genuine issue of material fact by supplementing the record at the Rule 59(e) stage of the proceedings was too little, too late.