Opinion ID: 771571
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Georgi's Motion to Intervene

Text: 23 Appellant seeks to intervene pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24. He claims an interest relating to the property which is the subject of the action, and that his interests will be impaired if he is not permitted to intervene to add two defendants, who he contends are indispensable parties. We review a district court's denial of a motion to intervene for abuse of discretion. See In re Holocaust Victim Assets Litig., 225 F.3d 191, 197 (2d Cir. 2000). 24 Rule 24(a) 5 , intervention of right, requires that the proposed intervenor (1) file a timely motion; (2) show an interest in the litigation; (3) show that its interest may be impaired by the disposition of the action; and (4) show that its interest is not adequately protected by the parties to the action. Id. (citing Catanzano v. Wing, 103 F.3d 223, 232 (2d Cir. 1996)). Denial of the motion to intervene is proper if any of these requirements is not met. See id., 225 F.3d at 197. 25 The determination of the timeliness of a motion to intervene is within the discretion of the district court, evaluated against the totality of the circumstances before the court. Farmland Dairies v. Comm'r of the N.Y. State Dep't of Agric. and Markets, 847 F.2d 1038, 1043-44 (2d Cir. 1988) (citations omitted). Circumstances considered in this determination include: (1) how long the applicant had notice of the interest before [he] made the motion to intervene; (2) prejudice to existing parties resulting from any delay; (3) prejudice to the applicant if the motion is denied; and (4) any unusual circumstances militating for or against a finding of timeliness. United States v. Pitney Bowes, Inc., 25 F.3d 66, 70 (2d Cir. 1994) (citations omitted). 26 Here, the District Court focused primarily on the first factor, the length of appellant's notice of his interest in the action, in denying his motion to intervene. See In re Austrian and German Bank Holocaust Litig., 80 F. Supp. 2d 164, 172 (S.D.N.Y. 2000). Appellant filed his motion to intervene on October 29, 1999, more than a year after the complaint was filed, approximately three months following the district court's order that notice be sent to class members, and three days prior to the Fairness Hearing scheduled by the district court. Appellant offers no explanation for waiting to file his intervention motion until three days prior to the Fairness Hearing. The district court concluded that appellant, who claimed to have spent a substantial amount of time on Holocaust survivors' litigation, had notice of his interest in the instant action well before he filed his intervention motion and that he failed to establish that his motion was timely. See id. We agree. 27 As for the other factors, the district court noted that, especially in light of Georgi's request to add parties to the action, this late intervention would potentially derail the settlement and prejudice the existing parties, who had been engaging in settlement negotiations for several months. See id. The court noted, as well, that many claimants are elderly. See id. This Court has affirmed a denial of intervention in a similar case, where intervention would jeopardize a settlement between the existing parties and the proposed intervenor's explanation for the delay was inadequate. See Holocaust Victim Assets Litig., 225 F. 3d at 198-99. Because of this jeopardy to the settlement, the district court did not abuse its discretion when it concluded that the prejudice to the existing parties outweighs any prejudice to appellant and denied appellant's motion to intervene.