Opinion ID: 392689
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Denial of Plaintiff's Motions

Text: 17 Some additional factual background is necessary to a full understanding of plaintiff's arguments here. Plaintiff, again a Florida resident at the institution of this suit on May 20, 1977, retained both Florida and Texas counsel. On June 15, 1978, in the face of disbarment proceedings, Dr. Rhodes' Texas lawyer withdrew from practice. At all times from the filing of the complaint until trial, however, plaintiff was represented at least by Florida counsel, who had signed the original complaint. Plaintiff finally retained new Texas counsel in early November 1979, seventeen months after the resignation of his initial Texas lawyer, scant days before the pretrial order was due and a month before trial. On November 16, two weeks before the date set for the pretrial conference, three weeks before trial, and thirty months after the suit's filing, plaintiff filed three motions in the district court: for continuance, for leave to file an amended complaint, and for jury trial after waiver. The motions were denied. Plaintiff argues on appeal that the cumulative effect of denial of these motions was a deprivation of his right to a fair trial on his claim. We have considered his arguments and here reject them. 18
19 The decision to grant or deny a continuance lies within the sound discretion of the district court. Crompton-Richmond Co. v. Briggs, 560 F.2d 1195 (5th Cir. 1977); Thompson v. Fleming, 402 F.2d 266 (5th Cir. 1968); 9 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 2352 (1971). We have studied the circumstances and find that the trial judge did not abuse her discretion in denying a continuance. No adequate explanation is offered for plaintiff's long delay in hiring a new Texas lawyer. During the seventeen months in which plaintiff had no Texas counsel he was not without legal representation; his Florida lawyer apparently played an active role in the institution and preparation of this lawsuit. The recently retained Texas lawyer, who tried the case for plaintiff, argues that the relatively short time for preparing the case hampered his effective prosecution of plaintiff's claim. We can understand plaintiff counsel's belief that, given more time to prepare, he could have presented a better case. We, however, are in a poor position to weigh its validity, and, furthermore, we do not consider that speculative assertion a sufficient basis for finding error in the trial court's denial of this motion. It was not here an abuse of discretion for the trial judge to call a halt to delay and proceed to trial. 20
21 Plaintiff's second motion was for leave to file an amended complaint adding Dr. Cannedy as an individual defendant and alleging several additional, basically tort, theories of recovery 7 with a demand for exemplary damages. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a) provides that, under such circumstances as are presented here, a party may amend his pleading only by leave of court or by written consent of the adverse party; and leave shall be freely given when justice so requires. Appellate review of a denial of leave to amend is limited to a determination whether the lower court abused its discretion in so ruling. Bamm, Inc. v. GAF Corp., 651 F.2d 389 (5th Cir. 1981); Pan-Islamic Trade Corp. v. Exxon Corp., 632 F.2d 539 (5th Cir. 1980). The Supreme Court has established a general standard against which district courts may measure such requests. In Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 230, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962), the Court stated: 22 In the absence of any apparent or declared reason such as undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party by virtue of allowance of the amendment, futility of amendment, etc. the leave sought should, as the rules require, be freely given. 23 See also Bamm, Inc. v. GAF Corp., supra at 391. 24 The trial judge did not abuse her discretion in concluding that justice did not require receiving this amended complaint. Our conclusion here is, however, made more difficult because the trial judge cursorily denied this motion, assigning no reasons for her action. We have previously indicated the disfavor with which we view district court denials of amendments without stated reasons. Griggs v. Hinds Junior College, 563 F.2d 179 (5th Cir. 1977); Hilgeman v. National Insurance Company of America, 547 F.2d 298 (5th Cir. 1977). 8 This lapse is unfortunate but not fatal to affirmance. The strong preference for explicit reasons yields to the presence here of ample and obvious grounds for denying leave to amend; the district court could confidently have relied on any or all of them. The mere absence under these circumstances of articulated reasons for denial does not indicate an abuse of the court's discretion. 25 The inordinate delay in filing this amendment (thirty months after the original complaint) and its timing (three weeks before trial) weigh heavily against plaintiff. This court has previously recognized that (a)t some point in time delay on the part of a plaintiff can be procedurally fatal. Gregory v. Mitchell, 634 F.2d 199, 203 (5th Cir. 1981). We do not imply that this delay alone would necessarily permit an exercise of discretion against plaintiff's request; but in the absence of justification for the delay, it was properly to be considered strongly against plaintiff's motion. No sufficient justification or excuse has been offered for the delay. The retention of a new attorney able to perceive or draft different or more creative claims from the same set of facts is itself no excuse for the late filing of an amended complaint. In Summit Office Park, Inc. v. United States Steel Corp., 639 F.2d 1278, 1284 (5th Cir. 1981), this court noted that the intent of Rule 15(a) is to assist the disposition of litigation on the merits of the case rather than have pleadings become ends in themselves. This was not a case in which incomplete or inadequate pleadings, uncorrected by amendment, doomed plaintiff's recovery. While seeking recovery under the headings of different tort claims, plaintiff's case remained that pled in the original breach of contract complaint. Plaintiff's claim was disposed of on its merits. The denial of leave to amend did not compromise plaintiff's chance of recovery; the facts took care of that. 26
27 Finally, plaintiff complains of the district court's denial of his request for jury trial after waiver. It is undisputed that plaintiff waived his right to jury trial by failing to make the written demand required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 38(b). The rules, however, allow a party an opportunity for relief from that waiver. Rule 39(b) provides: (N)otwithstanding the failure of a party to demand a jury in an action in which such a demand might have been made of right, the court in its discretion upon motion may order a trial by a jury of any or all issues. This court has previously stated that, when the discretion of the court is invoked under Rule 39(b), the court should grant a jury trial in the absence of strong and compelling reasons to the contrary. Swofford v. B & W, Inc., 336 F.2d 406, 409 (5th Cir. 1964). We elaborated that position in Bush v. Allstate Insurance Co., 425 F.2d 393 (5th Cir. 1970), in a manner supportive of the trial court's action here. After citing and quoting the exact language from Swofford above, we concluded: It is not an abuse of discretion by a District Judge to deny a Rule 39(b) motion, however, when the failure to make a timely demand for a jury trial results from mere inadvertence on the part of the moving party (citations omitted). In this case the excuse put forth by (plaintiff) was the inadvertence of both his lawyers.... (T)he District Court was not required to order a trial by jury. Id. at 396. Mere inadvertence seems a charitable description of plaintiff's delay here.