Opinion ID: 1399098
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Appellants' Motion for Reconsideration

Text: For their final point on appeal, Bibbs and Mason urge that the circuit judge erred by denying their motion for reconsideration following the summary-judgment and dismissal hearing when appellants' counsel was not present. Appellants urge that the circuit judge's decision to continue with the summary-judgment and dismissal hearing in the absence of appellants' counsel and despite conflicting correspondence from the circuit judge and opposing counsel regarding the hearing date constitutes reversible error. We first note that this court has held that a lawyer and litigant must exercise reasonable diligence in keeping up with the progress of a case. Francis v. Protective Life Ins. Co., 371 Ark. 285, 265 S.W.3d 117 (2007); Arnold v. Camden News Publg. Co., 353 Ark. 522, 110 S.W.3d 268 (2003). In a letter dated May 8, 2007, the circuit judge notified all counsel that the summary-judgment and dismissal hearing was scheduled for May 21, 2007. To be sure, Community Bank's counsel erroneously notified appellants' counsel that the hearing was set for July 10, 2007, which confused matters. But if any confusion arose from the circuit judge's conflicting orders or by an inconsistent date in opposing counsel's confirmation letter, appellants' counsel should have inquired to determine the correct date and time of the hearing from the circuit judge. Furthermore, at the hearing on May 21, 2007, the circuit judge refused to hear oral argument from Community Bank's lawyer on the motions due to the absence of appellants' counsel and stated that he would rely solely on the pleadings and the parties' briefs in making his decision. The judge concluded the hearing by orally granting summary judgment and dismissal in favor of Community Bank. Appellants next filed a motion for reconsideration on May 31, 2007, in which they contested the holding of the hearing and raised their standing arguments. It was only after this motion that the circuit judge entered his order granting summary judgment and dismissal. Although, admittedly, conducting a hearing without the presence of counsel for a party is an irregular and questionable procedure, the circuit judge took pains to assure that Community Bank would not receive an unfair advantage due to the absence of appellants' counsel. In addition to that, appellants' counsel had the opportunity to raise any pertinent arguments in the motion for reconsideration filed before the entry of the order. As a final matter, appellants have not shown this court how they were specifically prejudiced by their counsel's absence at the hearing. [5] Rule 56 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure does not give the parties an automatic right to a summary-judgment hearing. It is discretionary with the circuit judge. Moreover, as we have noted, the circuit judge took steps to assure no unfair prejudice to appellants occurred. Without unfair prejudice, we are hard pressed to reverse the circuit judge's judgment. See Villanueva v. CNA Ins. Companies, 868 F.2d 684 (5th Cir.1989) (though the court viewed with suspicion a summary-judgment conference which terminated the litigation without plaintiff's counsel being present, the record reveals no unfair prejudice to the plaintiff). Taking all the factors together, we conclude there was no abuse of discretion by the circuit judge in going forward with the hearing. Affirmed.