Opinion ID: 755605
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reasons for the Involuntary Dismissal

Text: 33 When the court dismissed LeBlang I on LeBlang's motion, the parties agreed to the following conditions: [T]hat plaintiffs pay defendant's reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in trial preparation; that all rulings and orders in [LeBlang I] apply in any subsequent refiled action; [and] that the parties will stand ready for trial upon the refiling of this case. Order, LeBlang Motors, Ltd., No. 95 C 2693 (N.D. Ill. April 12, 1996). The court found that LeBlang violated these conditions by failing to pay Subaru's attorneys' fees and instead appealing the amount of those fees, and by appealing two pretrial orders relating to discovery filed in LeBlang I. The court reasoned that failure to pay the fees was a violation of the first condition, while appealing from the fee order and the two pretrial orders violated the second agreed-upon condition that all LeBlang I rulings and orders would apply in any subsequent action. Because LeBlang violated an order of the court, the district court dismissed LeBlang II under Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(b) (For failure of the plaintiff ... to comply with these rules or any order of court, a defendant may move for dismissal of an action or of any claim against the defendant.). 34 We review a dismissal under Rule 41(b) under the narrow abuse-of-discretion standard. Pyramid Energy, Ltd. v. Heyl & Patterson, Inc., 869 F.2d 1058, 1061 (7th Cir.1989). Because each reason the court provided represents a violation of the order in LeBlang I and is therefore sufficient to justify the dismissal, LeBlang must convince us that all the reasons the court gave for the dismissal were somehow incorrect. LeBlang did not meet this burden. Because we find that LeBlang violated the conditions for the voluntary dismissal of LeBlang I contained in the court's order, we hold that the court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing LeBlang II.3. LeBlang's Claim That It Reserved a Right to Appeal All Orders from LeBlang I 35 In its letter to the court accepting the conditions for voluntary dismissal of LeBlang I, LeBlang asserted: With the understanding that Plaintiffs do not waive any right of appeal they have with respect to the rulings and orders in the instant case, Plaintiffs accept the dismissal without prejudice with the conditions imposed by the Court. Fees Motion, Exh. E. LeBlang contends that an explicit part of its agreement to the terms imposed by the court was the reservation of the right to appeal all orders and rulings. LeBlang concludes that it cannot now be penalized for asserting a right it expressly reserved. We find this argument unpersuasive. 36 LeBlang agreed to be bound by the rulings of the court in LeBlang I. If we read the statement LeBlang made regarding its reservation of rights in the way LeBlang urges, it eviscerates the condition that it would be bound by the rulings of the court. On LeBlang's reading, even though it agreed to be bound by all rulings and orders entered in LeBlang I, it was allowed to appeal these rulings (and hopefully have them reversed) so they would not apply in any subsequently filed action. We refuse to read LeBlang's language to allow him to avoid an agreed-upon condition of the voluntary dismissal of LeBlang I. 37 Additionally, while LeBlang claims that it was reserving its rights, we note that LeBlang had no right to appeal the pretrial orders. The voluntary dismissal of LeBlang I was without prejudice and as such did not constitute a final decision of the court for purposes of § 1291. Additionally, the pretrial orders did not constitute a conclusive resolution completely separate from the merits of the action such that the collateral order doctrine would apply. LeBlang had no right to an interlocutory appeal of these pretrial orders, and thus it had no right capable of being reserved. The right to appeal vests with a final decision of the court, and no such decision had occurred at that time. 38 In light of the above considerations, we read LeBlang's reservation of rights to mean that LeBlang had not waived its right to appeal the orders once a final decision was entered in the refiled case and such orders became appealable. 2 However, LeBlang did not wait for a final decision and instead jumped the gun and tried to attack the pretrial orders in an interlocutory appeal. We agree with the district court that LeBlang's premature appeal violated the agreed-upon condition contained in the court's order that all rulings would apply in subsequently filed cases. This violation is sufficient to justify an involuntary dismissal under Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(b), and we therefore conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion by dismissing LeBlang II. 39 4. LeBlang's Claim That the District Court Abused Its 40 Discretion by Dismissing Its Motion for Stay of Enforcement of Attorneys' Fee Award 41 LeBlang claims that the district court abused its discretion by dismissing its motion for a stay of enforcement of the attorneys' fee award. 3 In light of the above discussion, this argument is moot. LeBlang made this argument to avoid having the court use its failure to pay attorneys' fees as a reason for the involuntary dismissal of LeBlang II. This argument only matters if the court had no other reason for granting the involuntary dismissal. Since the involuntary dismissal is supported by other grounds, the question of whether the failure to pay attorneys' fees was an appropriate reason for the dismissal is moot. 42 Although LeBlang made this argument to extricate itself from the involuntary dismissal, we could read part of LeBlang's brief to state this claim as an independent claim on appeal. However, we need not reach the merits of LeBlang's argument. 43 Regardless of whether the district court was correct in dismissing LeBlang's motion as moot, the motion is certainly moot now. LeBlang made a motion for a stay pending appeal; this is the appeal for which he was waiting. Thus LeBlang would not be assisted in any way if we chose to grant the stay at this point. 44 Additionally, a finding that the court should have granted the stay will also not help LeBlang. LeBlang has not been prejudiced in any way by the fact the court did not grant its motion. First of all, as discussed above, the involuntary dismissal would still have been properly granted because there were other independent reasons supporting the dismissal. Second, LeBlang has still not paid the award of attorneys' fees to Subaru. Because LeBlang has not been adversely affected by the court's decision, and since granting or denying the stay would now be moot, we decline to address the merits of LeBlang's contention.