Opinion ID: 6109526
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Summary and final judgment

Text: In May 2018 Hardy, joined by Chena, sought summary judgment.5 Hardy presented a nurse-midwife’s expert opinion that his treatment of Bridges had met the relevant standard of care. Bridges did not file a timely opposition, and in June the court granted summary judgment in favor of Hardy and Chena. 4 See Alaska R. Civ. P. 81(a)(2) (allowing out-of-state attorneys to appear in “a particular action or proceeding” in Alaska upon motion and court approval). 5 Alaska R. Civ. P. 56(c) (authorizing superior court to grant summary judgment if “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that any party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law”). -4- 7580 Bridges moved for reconsideration. She argued that Hardy’s summary judgment motion “is prematurely brought before the Court and should be denied” and that “[a]s discovery progresses, [Bridges] will raise genuine issues of material fact against Mr. Hardy.” Chena and Hardy opposed reconsideration, pointing out that Bridges’s late-filed motion for reconsideration had “failed to present any admissible evidence to rebut the expert affidavit.” The court denied reconsideration.
In May 2018 Banner moved to compel Bridges to provide responses to Banner’s discovery requests. Although the responses had been due in March, and although Banner had repeatedly inquired about the status of the responses, it still had not received them. Banner then filed a second motion to compel in June, claiming that Bridges had “served Banner with a set of severely deficient discovery responses” and had failed to respond to Banner’s attempt to confer about the deficiencies. The court granted both motions to compel. Banner then moved for summary judgment in July, relying on affidavits in which a neonatologist and an obstetrician opined that Banner’s employees had met the requisite standards of care. Bridges did not timely oppose the motion, and the court granted it ten days after the deadline passed. Four days later the court processed — but did not accept for filing — Bridges’s late opposition to summary judgment, which included two expert affidavits and a request for oral argument. In August Bridges moved for reconsideration of Banner’s summary judgment. Bridges also attempted to file a motion under Civil Rule 56(f) for more time to oppose summary judgment,6 but the motion was not accepted for filing. The court 6 Alaska R. Civ. P. 56 (f) (“Should it appear from the affidavits of a party opposing the motion that the party cannot for reasons stated present by affidavit facts (continued...) -5- 7580 explained that Bridges had already late-filed her response to Banner’s summary judgment motion, that her response had not been accompanied by a motion to accept late filing, and that judgment had already been entered by the time Bridges’s response was received. Bridges then filed a motion contending that her response had been erroneously rejected by the court clerk and arguing that the court should accept her late opposition to Banner’s summary judgment. After a delay caused by Bridges’s improper service, Banner responded to the motion and asked that it be struck from the record.
Chena, Hardy, and Banner all sought entry of final judgment, and in October the superior court granted final judgment in their favor. First, it noted that because over 30 days had passed since Bridges’s motion for reconsideration, “that motion is taken as denied.”7 Second, the court granted Banner’s motion to strike Bridges’s response. Third, the court ruled that “because all of plaintiff’s claims have been dismissed and relief denied, entry of final judgment is appropriate.” The court issued a separate order noting that Bridges’s counsel had consistently failed to comply with requirements for pleadings filed by pro hac vice counsel and that future noncompliant filings would be rejected.8 6 (...continued) essential to justify the party’s opposition, the court may refuse the application for judgment or may order a continuance to permit affidavits to be obtained or depositions to be taken or discovery to be had or may make such other order as is just.”). 7 See Alaska R. Civ. P. 77(k)(4) (providing that a motion for reconsideration not “ruled upon by the court within 30 days from the date of the filing of the motion . . . shall be taken as denied”). 8 See Alaska R. Civ. P. 81(a)(2) (providing that if counsel appears pro hac vice “all documents requiring signature of counsel for a party may not be signed solely by such attorney, but must bear the signature also of local counsel with whom the (continued...) -6- 7580 3. Civil Rule 60(b) motion for relief from judgment On the same day final judgment was entered, Bridges sought relief from both summary judgment orders under Alaska Civil Rule 60(b). Bridges first argued that under Civil Rule 60(b)(1) she was entitled to relief due to “mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect.” Contending that her attorneys’ staff had improperly calendared the date for response to Hardy’s summary judgment motion, she argued that this clerical error led to her late filing and constituted excusable neglect. Regarding her response to Banner’s summary judgment motion, she argued that it was filed “only days after the deadline” and that “any neglect should be deemed excusable” because she had been waiting for notarized affidavits from her experts and had filed the response promptly once the affidavits were received. Bridges alternatively argued that the court should grant relief under Rule 60(b)(6). Relief is available under this subsection of the rule for “any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.” This ground “is reserved for extraordinary circumstances not covered by the preceding clauses” of the rule.9 Bridges argued that extraordinary circumstances were present because “[Bridges] has the required expert support through proper affidavits to show that questions of material fact exist which would normally prevent a grant of summary judgment.” Further, she argued that there would be no prejudice to the defendants because they “would then only be put in a position to have to defend a meritorious lawsuit, which . . . puts [them] in the same position they were in prior to the grant of summary judgment.” After a delay caused by 8 (...continued) attorney is associated”). 9 Hartland v. Hartland, 777 P.2d 636, 645 (Alaska 1989). -7- 7580 Bridges’s improper service, Banner, Chena, and Hardy each opposed the Rule 60(b) motion. 4. Hearing on Rule 60(b) relief A hearing on the Rule 60(b) motion was held in January 2019. Bridges’s counsel McKeen began by describing the history of the case. He indicated that the court could take testimony from himself or from Bridges’s counsel Counsman; the court directed McKeen to “[c]ontinue on as you see fit.” McKeen continued to describe the case without being sworn in. McKeen claimed that his firm’s failure to timely respond to Hardy and Chena’s summary judgment motion was because of differences between Michigan and Alaska procedure. In Michigan, he said, “We are used to the hearing date triggering the due date for the response.” He also claimed that Power had failed to alert pro hac vice counsel to the motion’s due date, and mentioned as a “mitigating factor” that Counsman is “essentially a single parent” who was responsible for his daughter’s wedding preparations the previous August. McKeen then addressed Banner’s motion for summary judgment, emphasizing that Bridges’s counsel had not received the motion until July 11 even though it was filed on July 2.10 He indicated that it “was a matter of some considerable, you know, logistical challenge” to get notarized affidavits from plaintiff’s experts “in the time frame that was required.” He said that Counsman had emailed Banner’s counsel to ask for additional time to respond to the motion but that Banner had declined to provide an extension, even though McKeen “would have expected” a courtesy extension. Counsman then “somehow, perhaps because of distractions with the impending wedding preparations, . . . had it in his mind that the response was due on July 27th.” When 10 The record indicates that Banner’s motion for summary judgment, which was filed on July 2, was returned to Banner for additional postage on July 6. -8- 7580 Counsman ultimately filed the response, it was “[t]echnically” “three or perhaps four days too late,” which McKeen argued caused “zero prejudice.” McKeen also claimed that Counsman had had three different legal assistants since the case had started and that “it is extremely difficult to hire good paralegal talent” in Detroit. The court explained that Rule 60(b) relief is available only if the movant can show a valid argument on the merits and pointed out that Bridges still had not filed an expert affidavit to rebut Hardy and Chena’s motion for summary judgment. McKeen replied that although he was new to Alaska procedure, he had “read Rule 60 over and over and over again,” and did not “see where there’s any provision in there that requires affidavits.” He also indicated that he could provide the court an affidavit from a certified nurse-midwife “within a very short period of time.” At the end of the hearing, McKeen said that if the court wished, Bridges’s counsel would submit an affidavit. The court said that it would leave that to counsel’s discretion. Two days after the hearing, Bridges moved to allow the filing and consideration of a certified nurse-midwife’s affidavit. The affidavit expressed the expert opinion that Hardy had violated the standard of care. The accompanying motion argued that after the court granted Hardy’s motion for summary judgment, Bridges had “lacked a vehicle by which [Bridges] could submit an appropriate affidavit to the Court to show that [Bridges] could indeed show that a genuine issue of material fact exists.” Bridges argued that the court should deem the affidavit timely filed under Alaska Civil Rules -9- 7580 6(b)(2) and 94.11 Chena, Hardy, and Banner opposed Bridges’s motion to allow the affidavit. 5. Superior court’s orders granting relief from judgment and defendants’ petitions for review In early April the court granted Bridges’s Rule 60(b) motion as well as her motion to file the expert’s affidavit. The order held that Bridges’s “claims for relief under [Alaska Civil] Rule 60(b)(1) are without merit.” Nonetheless, it concluded that relief was warranted under Rule 60(b)(6) “because of the injustice that will result if this case is not allowed to proceed on the merits.” Because the “prejudice suffered by the defendants is largely limited to the costs associated with the post-summary judgment proceedings,” it could be “alleviated by an award of actual reasonable attorney’s fees and costs assessed under Rule 95(a).” The court therefore granted Bridges’s Rule 60(b) motion and allowed her to oppose the defendants’ motions for summary judgment. It also ordered that a hearing be held to address sanctions against Bridges’s attorneys. Chena, Hardy, and Banner moved for reconsideration, which the court denied. Hardy, Chena, and Banner petitioned for review of the order granting Bridges’s Rule 60(b) motion, and we granted review.