Opinion ID: 186942
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Tactical Maneuvering

Text: 29 Tactical maneuvering by the second litigant, which in this context means conduct designed unfairly ... to obtain multiple bites of the litigatory apple, Gonzalez, 27 F.3d at 761, is indicative of virtual representation. Amicus Public Citizen alone appears to take issue with any consideration of such maneuvering, saying, it puts the cart before the horse to base privity on a finding of tactical maneuvering ...[;] Taylor can only be found to have engaged in improper maneuvering if he was already in privity with Herrick. At least some forms of tactical maneuvering, however, are probative of collusion or otherwise indicative of privity and therefore should be considered a factor supporting virtual representation. See, e.g., Tyus, 93 F.3d at 457 (plaintiffs in ongoing suit filing second suit and adding several new plaintiffs considered tactical maneuvering); Pedrina v. Chun, 97 F.3d 1296, 1299, 1302 (9th Cir. 1996) (certain plaintiffs in federal court, having brought and lost state court action over same transaction, held virtual representatives of newly-added plaintiffs). 30 In this case, Taylor filed his FOIA request for the F-45 documents almost immediately after the Tenth Circuit decided Herrick and, in filing his administrative appeal with the FAA three months later, Taylor used information Herrick had obtained through discovery in that case. Taylor's filing on the heels of a court decision affirming the government's position with the assistance of the losing party to the prior litigation suggests Herrick and Taylor coordinated the filing of Taylor's request—and the litigation that would almost certainly follow—so that Taylor could try where Herrick had failed, to the benefit of both. As Taylor correctly notes, however, these facts do not necessarily show collusion to avoid the preclusive effects of Herrick ; for example, Taylor could have read about Herrick and acted on his own to file an identical FOIA request, and passing along documents obtained through discovery is something Herrick might have done even for someone with whom he was not in cahoots. In view of the ambiguity of the facts, and because we do not need to determine whether they count as tactical maneuvering, we do not do so. 31 To review the bidding, there is record evidence that: (1) Taylor and Herrick had identical interests, even when viewed in terms of incentives, and (2) Taylor's interest was adequately represented in Herrick, in addition to which (3) Herrick and Taylor had a close working relationship relative to these successive cases. There is no countervailing evidence. We therefore conclude Herrick served as Taylor's virtual representative in the litigation for the F-45 documents. 32 Taylor complains that finding virtual representation upon these facts effectively bars anyone from bringing a legal challenge to the issue specifically left open in Herrick ; a later plaintiff would have to prove he is a total stranger to Mr. Herrick and Mr. Taylor and has no `interest' in the documents. Relatedly, Taylor and Public Citizen suggest it is particularly inappropriate to find virtual representation in a FOIA case because every individual has the right to receive nonexempt government information regardless whether another person previously requested and was denied the same information. Moreover, because many filers of FOIA requests are reporters, public interest organizations, and academics, who are likely to associate with others having similar interests, the purpose of the FOIA would be disserved if those filers were precluded by res judicata from making successive requests. Cf. United States Dep't of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749, 771, 109 S.Ct. 1468, 103 L.Ed.2d 774 (1989) (the identity of the requesting party has no bearing on the merits of his or her FOIA request). 33 The facts of this case simply do not implicate those concerns, however. The record here, as we have noted, contains evidence suggestive of identical interests, adequate representation, and a close relationship and no evidence to the contrary. Matters might look different if Taylor had submitted evidence before summary judgment explaining, for example, why their common counsel's representation of Herrick did not adequately represent Taylor's interests, or demonstrating Taylor's relationship with Herrick was in fact nothing more than a shared interest in antique aircraft and membership in the same organizations, or showing that Herrick had not suggested or offered to assist with Taylor's claim for the same documents. He did not do so, however, with the result that the record supports finding Herrick and Taylor in privity.