Opinion ID: 2363126
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Additional Considerations In This Case

Text: A primary thrust of the Court of Special Appeals's opinion was that [t]he particular circumstances of the case sub judice present an additional factor that the trial court must consider in deciding a motion to dismiss without prejudice under Maryland Rule 2-506(b)  Michael's status as a minor. Skevofilax, 167 Md.App. at 20, 891 A.2d at 428. Federal courts interpreting FRCP 41(a)(2) have held that a trial court should consider the equities not only facing the non-moving party, but also those equities in favor of the movant. Ohlander, 114 F.3d at 1537; see also WRIGHT AND MILLER, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 2364. Additionally, the four factors previously addressed are not exclusive, and any other relevant factors should be considered. Ohlander, 114 F.3d at 1537 (citing Phillips U.S.A., Inc., 77 F.3d at 358 (10th Cir.1996)). The intermediate appellate court observed that Maryland courts traditionally have been solicitous of the legal rights of minors when a next friend or guardian sues on their behalf for personal injuries or other similar causes of action. In affixing this special duty to protect the interests of minors in litigation, the two lower courts here looked primarily to two cases where this Court reversed trial court decisions denying plaintiffs' motions for voluntary dismissal without prejudice where the minor plaintiffs' next friends failed to pursue diligently the claims: Fulton v. K & M Associates, 331 Md. 712, 629 A.2d 716 (1993) and Berrain v. Katzen, 331 Md. 693, 629 A.2d 707 (1993). [19] According to the Court of Special Appeals, the trial court failed to give any consideration to the additional factor `unique to the context of the [the] case.' Skevofilax, 167 Md.App. at 23, 891 A.2d at 429 (quoting Ohlander, 114 F.3d at 1537). This failure, furthermore, was found to constitute an abuse of discretion because the trial court failed to exercise its discretion in accordance with correct legal standards. Skevofilax, 167 Md.App. at 23, 891 A.2d at 429. We concede that, where the record so reveals, a failure to consider the proper legal standard in reaching a decision constitutes an abuse of discretion. Ehrlich v. Perez, 394 Md. 691, 908 A.2d 1220 (2006) (No. 137, Sept. Term 2005) (filed 12 October 2006), slip op. at 14 (`[E]ven with respect to a discretionary matter, a trial court must exercise its discretion in accordance with correct legal standards.') (quoting LeJeune v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., 381 Md. 288, 301, 849 A.2d 451, 459 (2004)); Alston v. Alston, 331 Md. 496, 504, 629 A.2d 70, 74 (1993); see also Ohlander, 114 F.3d at 1537 (A clear example of an abuse of discretion exists where the trial court fails to consider the applicable legal standard or the facts upon which the exercise of is discretionary judgment is based.); McNickle v. Bankers Life & Cas. Co., 888 F.2d 678, 680 (10th Cir.1989). Because this Court concludes that the cases relied on by Respondents and the Court of Special Appeals do not compel here the grant of dismissal without prejudice, we determine that the Circuit Court properly considered the legal standards regarding protection of the legal rights of minors. The issue in Fulton v. K & M Associates was whether a circuit court abused its discretion in denying a minor plaintiff's motion to dismiss without prejudice when the plaintiff lacked necessary medical evidence due to a lack of cooperation on the part of the next friend in taking the minor plaintiff to be tested. 331 Md. at 713, 714, 629 A.2d at 717. In a complaint, filed through his next friend and mother, against several property owners, the minor plaintiff alleged that he suffered chronic lead poisoning during infancy after ingesting deteriorated lead paint in various rental dwellings in Baltimore City. Fulton, 331 Md. at 714, 629 A.2d at 717. According to plaintiff's counsel, testing was necessary for medical experts to conclude whether exposure to lead was the cause of plaintiff's permanent brain injury. Id. Because the plaintiff's next friend did not cooperate with efforts to conduct medical tests on the minor, medical evidence to support their claims could not be developed. Id. His counsel, therefore, pursued voluntary dismissal without prejudice, under Maryland Rule 2-506(b), in order to preserve the minor's cause of action. The trial court denied plaintiff's motion. Plaintiff filed a timely appeal with the Court of Special Appeals. Before the intermediate appellate court considered the case, we issued a writ of certiorari on our initiative. 329 Md. 479, 620 A.2d 349 (1993). In reversing the trial court's decision, we held that the trial court owes a duty to infants represented by a next friend, to insure that the next friend does not prejudice the rights and interests of the minor though conflict of interest, fraud, or neglect. Fulton, 331 Md. at 715, 629 A.2d at 719. We concluded that [i]n light of the apparent neglect of the next friend in prosecuting the claim of the infant plaintiff the trial court should have intervened on behalf of the minor and permitted dismissal of the claim without prejudice. Id. In Berrain v. Katzen , [20] the issue was whether it was an abuse of discretion for the trial court to enter default judgment against a minor plaintiff when the next friend and mother failed to comply with the defendants' reasonable requests for discovery. In Berrain, three siblings suffered permanent brain damage after allegedly ingesting lead paint flakes or chips while living with their mother in dwellings owned by the defendants. 331 Md. at 695, 629 A.2d at 707. Defense counsel propounded interrogatories to the plaintiffs on 2 December 1991. Berrain, 331 Md. at 696, 629 A.2d at 708. After waiting seven months for a response, the defendants moved for sanctions pursuant to Maryland Rule 2-432(a), which caused the circuit court to grant a default order. Berrain, 331 Md. at 696-97, 629 A.2d at 708. The plaintiffs noted an appeal to the intermediate appellate court, and we again issued a writ of certiorari on our initiative. 329 Md. 337, 619 A.2d 547 (1993). After exploring the roots of the next friend's functions in ancient English statutory and common law, we reversed the trial court's judgment, holding that it was an abuse of discretion to enter default judgment in favor of the defendants. We held that the trial court has a special duty to protect the rights and interests of the minor plaintiff who is represented by [a] next friend to insure that the next friend does not prejudice those rights and interests through conflict of interest, fraud, or, in this case, neglect. Berrain, 331 Md. at 706, 629 A.2d at 715-16. We find nothing in Fulton or Berrain to support reversal of the Circuit Court's decision here. There was no conflict of interest, fraud, or neglect on the part of minor's next friend. Judge Berger, in rendering his opinion from the bench, clearly took into consideration Michael Skevofilax's minority status. [21] Also clear from the trial judge's oral opinion is that, outside of some delaying tactics employed by national counsel alluded to briefly by the trial court, there was no neglect on the part of either Michael's next friend or his attorneys. Judge Berger specifically held that I will say, as all counsel have stated here, there has been no lack of diligence whatsoever on behalf of [plaintiffs' counsel] in the context of plaintiffs' efforts in this case. Nor is there any evidence that either counsel or the next friends engaged in the conflicts of interest or fraud against which we cautioned in Fulton and Berrain. We find that, absent conflict of interest, fraud, or neglect by a parent, guardian, next friend, or the minor's attorney, a motion for voluntary dismissal made on behalf of a minor should not be analyzed differently than a motion for dismissal without prejudice filed by any plaintiff. In the circumstances of the present case, it was not an abuse of discretion for the Circuit Court to treat the Rule 2-506(b) motion as it would any other motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice.