Opinion ID: 668570
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion to Extend

Text: 41 Kreimerman et al. also complain that the magistrate judge erred in rejecting their third motion to extend the time within which to accomplish service of process. A district court, however, has broad discretion to dismiss an action for ineffective service of process, 67 so we review such a decision only for abuse of discretion. 68 Additionally, when the time to effect service has expired, the party attempting service has the burden of demonstrating good cause for failure to serve the opposing party. 69 42 In this case, Kreimerman et al. did not move to extend service for the third time until more than a month after the expiration of the twice previously extended deadline for effecting service. Therefore, they had the burden of demonstrating that there was good cause for their failure to effect service. Attempting to satisfy that burden, Kreimerman et al. insist that their failure was through no fault of their own. We acknowledge that available evidence suggests that service of process takes considerably longer to accomplish in Mexico than it does in the United States. 70 We also realize that the Mexican attorney who was helping Kreimerman et al. serve process on the defendants apparently misrepresented even to Kreimerman that service had been accomplished. Unfortunately for Kreimerman et al., however, action or inaction that fall into the categories of inadvertence, mistake, or ignorance of counsel do not constitute excusable neglect. 71 43 Kreimerman et al. selected and reposed their trust in the Mexican counsel, who in turn selected and worked with the other lawyer in Mexico City, who ultimately proved to be unreliable or dishonest, or both. That is at least vicariously Kreimerman et al.'s fault. Moreover, when Kreimerman et al. made their third motion to extend the time for service, they had already been given sixteen (16) months in which to serve the defendants, and the magistrate judge found that there was no reason to believe that service would have been effected in the near future. The translation of legal documents into Spanish, for example, took six months, and Kreimerman et al.'s Mexican counsel suggested that those translations were still inadequate. Even if we were to assume that the misrepresentations by the Mexican counsel constituted good cause for failing to effect service, we would conclude that Kreimerman et al. did not show good cause for failure to take any action during the eight months preceding those misrepresentations. Neither did Kreimerman et al. explain why the whole process was not further along after nearly two years. Under these facts, we cannot say that the district court abused its discretion. 44 3. Adoption of Magistrate Judge's Recommendations 45 Kreimerman et al. also suggest that the district court did not make a de novo review of the magistrate judge's Memorandum and Recommendations. They complain that the district court erred in adopting the magistrate judge's recommendations before they had filed their written objections. Kreimerman et al. assert, in essence, that because the district court did not wait for them to file their objections, and because the court did not clarify the magistrate judge's ruling with respect to the tolling of the applicable statute of limitations (and other rulings), we cannot be certain that the district court made a proper de novo review. 46 We grant that a district court must make a de novo review whenever a party objects to the magistrate judge's recommending dismissal. 72 In this instance, however, Kreimerman et al. do little more than speculate that the district court may not have made a de novo review of the instant case. They advance neither evidence nor specific factual allegations in support of their prayer for reversal. Under these sparse circumstances, we are most reluctant to find that the district court failed to engage in a proper review. 73 47 Neither are we troubled by the district court's adoption of the magistrate judge's recommendations prior to the court's receipt of Kreimerman et al.'s timely-filed written objections. Kreimerman et al. cite no cases which hold that a district court's failure to wait until objections are filed before adopting a magistrate judge's recommendations constitutes reversible error. 74 Moreover, even if the district court had erred in its attempt to follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, we would not be forced to reverse in the absence of prejudice. 75 Additionally, Kreimerman et al.'s two motions for reconsideration gave the district court opportunity to consider--yet again--their objections. We discern no reason to believe that the district court did not do its job properly. III