Opinion ID: 693902
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Stage of the Proceeding

Text: 17 As the district court held, the purpose of the timeliness inquiry is to prevent a tardy intervenor from derailing a lawsuit within sight of the terminal. United States v. South Bend Community Sch. Corp., 710 F.2d 394, 396 (7th Cir.1983), cert. denied sub nom. Brookins v. South Bend Community Sch. Corp., 466 U.S. 926 (1984). For this reason, a motion to intervene filed during the final stages of a proceeding is not favorably viewed. 18 CU argues that the motion to intervene did not come during the final phase of the litigation, because the district court did not approve the decree until seven months after CU filed its motion to intervene. At the time CU filed its motion to intervene, only one step in the litigation remained: the district court's approval of the proposed consent decree. This is the final stage of the proceeding. Therefore, the district court properly found the first factor to weigh against intervention.