Opinion ID: 553353
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Court's Order Granting Judgment

Text: 21 District courts are authorized to prescribe rules for the conduct of court business so long as those rules are consistent with the Acts of Congress and the Federal Rules of Procedure. See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2071. Fed.R.Civ.P. 83 regulates local rulemaking. The District Court for the Virgin Islands utilized this authority to adopt Rule 6(i). That rule provides, in part, that [u]pon failure of respondent to file a response and brief in opposition to the motion, the court may treat the motion as conceded and render whatever relief is asked for in the motion. 22 The purpose of Rule 6(i) is not to impose or authorize a sanction for failure to prosecute or defend. 3 The rule applies to all motions, under all circumstances, including those filed in diligently litigated cases. Rather, the rule's purpose is to facilitate the court's disposition of motions. It authorizes the court to grant applications solely on the basis of the information that the moving party puts before the court unless there is some response indicating that a genuine controversy exists concerning the right to the relief sought. The rule does not contemplate that the court will exercise discretion as to whether, for example, the opposing party's failure to respond was due to excusable neglect or whether the movant will suffer prejudice if the motion is denied. Indeed, the objective of the rule would be defeated if the district court had to stop and investigate such matters before acting. 23 [L]ocal rules play a 'vital role in the district courts' efforts to manage themselves and their dockets,'  and facilitate the implementation of court policy.... Smith v. Oelenschlager, 845 F.2d 1182, 1184 (3d Cir.1988) (citations omitted). More specifically, we believe the objective of local rules like Rule 6(i) is a laudatory one and that such rules pursue that objective in a reasonable manner. Accordingly, we hold, as many courts before us have done, 4 that Sec. 2071 and Fed.R.Civ.P. 83 authorize the adoption of rules like Rule 6(i).
24 Nevertheless, local rules like Rule 6(i) must be construed and applied in a manner consistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2071. In this case, Anchorage moved for the entry of a summary judgment on the ground that the Board had violated Anchorage's right to due process of law by requiring it to pay the assessments and by then denying it a fair hearing and decision on the refund issue within a reasonable period of time. In such a context, Rule 6(i) must be construed and applied in a manner consistent with Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. 5 25 The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit addressed a similar situation in Jaroma v. Massey, 873 F.2d 17 (1st Cir.1989). The defendant in Jaroma filed a motion for summary judgment and the plaintiff failed to respond. Rule 11(b) of the local rules of the New Hampshire district court provided that [u]nless within ten (10) days after the filing of a motion and memorandum by a party, the other party files written objection thereto with memorandum, he shall be deemed to have waived objection, and the court may act on the motion. After six weeks, the district court granted the defendant's motion in reliance on the local rule. 26 Although it affirmed the judgment of the district court, the court of appeals held that a district court cannot provide by local rule that a motion for summary judgment will be automatically granted when the opposing party fails to respond, id. at 20, because such a rule would violate Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. Even though Rule 56(e) requires a non-moving party to set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial, it is well-settled ... that this does not mean that a moving party is automatically entitled to summary judgment if the opposing party does not respond. Id. The court pointed out that Rule 56(e) makes specific provision for this eventuality: If the adverse party does not so respond, summary judgment, if appropriate, shall be entered against the adverse party' (emphasis added). Id. (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)). Accordingly, the Jaroma court concluded that a district court, before granting a summary judgment motion pursuant to a local rule like Rule 6(i), must first determine whether summary judgment is appropriate--that is, whether the moving party has shown itself to be entitled to judgment as a matter of law. 27 The problem for the Jaroma court became how to read the New Hampshire local rule in a manner consistent with Rule 56(e). It tendered the following resolution of that problem: 28 [T]he rule means that the opposing party, by failing to file a written objection and memorandum as required by the rule, waives the right to controvert the facts asserted by the moving party in the motion for summary judgment and the supporting material accompanying it. The court will accept as true all material facts set forth by the moving party with appropriate record support. If those facts entitle the moving party to judgment as a matter of law, summary judgment will be granted. 29 Id. at 21. 30 We agree with the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit that a local rule like Rule 6(i) is not alone a sufficient basis for the entry of a summary judgment. There must, in addition, be a finding that judgment for the moving party is appropriate. 6 Where the moving party has the burden of proof on the relevant issues, this means that the district court must determine that the facts specified in or in connection with the motion entitle the moving party to judgment as a matter of law. Where the moving party does not have the burden of proof on the relevant issues, this means that the district court must determine that the deficiencies in the opponent's evidence designated in or in connection with the motion entitle the moving party to judgment as a matter of law. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). 31 We also agree with the Jaroma court that in the context of a motion for summary judgment, a local rule like Rule 6(i) can and should be construed as effecting a waiver of the opponent's right to controvert the facts asserted by the moving party in the motion for summary judgment or the supporting material accompanying it. We are less comfortable with the Jaroma court's additional qualification that this waiver should extend only to facts set forth by the moving party with appropriate record support, which we take to mean facts evidenced by affidavits, pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, or admissions. It may be that a local rule like Rule 6(i) could provide, or be construed to mean, that all of the uncontroverted facts stated in or in connection with the motion may be accepted as true by the court whether or not so evidenced. 7 We need not resolve that issue here, however. Most of the facts relied upon in Anchorage's motion are included in the history of delay acknowledged by the Board in papers previously filed in the district court. The few remaining facts relied upon by Anchorage were within the personal knowledge of its counsel and were certified to by her under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 when she filed the motion. Under these circumstances, we are unwilling to say that the district court committed reversible error by assuming the truth of all facts set forth in the motion for summary judgment. 32 We hold that the district court in this case could have adjudicated Anchorage's motion for summary judgment solely on the basis of what Anchorage put before the court in its motion. The court, however, was not entitled to enter a summary judgment in favor of Anchorage unless the facts set forth in the motion entitled Anchorage to judgment as a matter of law. 33
34 The Board characterizes the judgment against it as a default judgment. It argues that such a judgment cannot be entered without (1) a hearing and (2) consideration of the Poulis factors. We disagree. When a party having the burden of proof files a motion for summary judgment to which there is no response, and the court determines that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law based on the facts presented in the motion, we believe that neither a hearing nor consideration of the Poulis factors are required before judgment is entered. 35 While Rule 56 speaks of a hearing, we do not read it to require that an oral hearing be held before judgment is entered. An opportunity to submit written evidence and argument satisfies the requirements of the rule. 8 Such an opportunity was afforded in this case and the Board would have no cause for complaint if the district court had otherwise complied with Rule 56. 36 This case presents the same issue with respect to the adequacy of the notice and opportunity to be heard that was resolved by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Resolution Trust Corp. v. Leslie (In re Liberty Trust Company), 903 F.2d 1053 (5th Cir.1990). In that case, the trustee in a bankruptcy proceeding filed a motion for summary judgment. The adverse party, First Savings Bank, failed to respond within the time period provided by local rule and the bankruptcy court granted summary judgment without further notice and a hearing. On appeal, First Savings, like the Board in this case, maintained that the court, in effect, had granted a default judgment without giving the notice and affording the hearing required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 55. The court of appeals rejected this argument, holding that the entry of a summary judgment is not analogous to entry of judgment by default and Rule 55 [had] no application.... First Savings was served with and received [the trustee's] motion for summary judgment. This alone provided adequate notice that the case might be summarily disposed of. Id. at 1055. 37 The Board's invocation of the Poulis factors refers to this court's opinion in Poulis v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 747 F.2d 863 (3d Cir.1984), and the factors it identifies as relevant when a court determines the consequences of a party's failure to prosecute or defend as provided in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Those factors include the following: 38 1. The extent of the party's personal responsibility for failure to prosecute or defend. 39 2. The extent of any prejudice to the adversary from that failure. 40 3. Any history of dilatoriness on the part of the recalcitrant party. 41
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44 Depending on the record before the court, consideration of one or more of the Poulis factors may be required when a party moves under Rule 37(b)(2) for dismissal of an opponent's claim as a sanction for a failure to respond to discovery, e.g., Hicks v. Feeney, 850 F.2d 152 (3d Cir.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1005, 109 S.Ct. 786, 102 L.Ed.2d 777 (1989), when a defendant moves under Rule 41(b) for an involuntary dismissal as a sanction for a failure to prosecute, e.g., Dunbar v. Triangle Lumber and Supply Co., 816 F.2d 126 (3d Cir.1987), or when a plaintiff moves under Rule 55(b) for a default judgment as a sanction for a failure to plead or otherwise defend, e.g., Comdyne I, Inc. v. Corbin, 908 F.2d 1142 (3d Cir.1990). 9 45 We have never held, however, that consideration of Poulis type factors is required before a court enters a summary judgment on an uncontested Rule 56 motion and we decline to do so in this case. Summary judgment under Rule 56 is not entered as a sanction, and, as this case demonstrates, it simply would not be feasible for district courts to comply with such a requirement. When the moving party makes the showing of entitlement to relief required by Rule 56 and its opponent fails to respond, the court will not, in most instances, have a record that will permit it to give consideration to the Poulis factors. In this case, for example, when the district court entered summary judgment, it had no way of knowing, short of conducting a sua sponte investigation, why the Board failed to contest the motion. Since the Board filed no motion for reconsideration or relief from judgment, the district court, and indeed this court, remains uninformed to this day on that issue. Under these circumstances, we cannot fault the district court for failing to speculate about the Poulis factors. 46 Rule 56 specifies in detail what the moving party must do to demonstrate its entitlement to relief. When such a demonstration has been made and there is no response, the rule specifies what the court must do. It does not require that the court initiate its own investigation into the background of the failure to respond. Accordingly, we hold that if a motion for summary judgment is filed in a court with a local rule like Rule 6(i) and the opponent fails to respond, a district court may process the motion in accordance with Rule 56 without scheduling a hearing and conducting an inquiry into the Poulis factors.