Court Opinion

ID: 9380952
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-21 18:00:54.528821+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:28.595073
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION                           FILED
                                                                         MAR 21 2023
                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                                                      MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
                                                                       U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

GERALDINE TRICE,                                No. 21-16422

                Plaintiff-Appellant,            D.C. No. 2:20-cv-02139-KJD-NJK

 v.
                                                MEMORANDUM*
LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE
COMPANY,

                Defendant-Appellee.

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                            for the District of Nevada
                    Kent J. Dawson, District Judge, Presiding

                            Submitted March 14, 2023**

Before:      SILVERMAN, SUNG, and SANCHEZ, Circuit Judges.

      Geraldine Trice appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing

her diversity action alleging state law claims. We have jurisdiction under 28

U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 12(b)(6). Mudpie, Inc. v. Travelers Cas. Ins. Co. of Am., 15 F.4th 885,

      *
             This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
      **
             The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
889 (9th Cir. 2021). We affirm.

       The district court properly dismissed Trice’s breach of contract claim as

barred by her insurance contract’s one-year limitation period. See Clark v. Truck

Ins. Exch., 598 P.2d 628, 629-30 (Nev. 1979) (explaining that the twelve-month

limitation period starts to run no later than when the insurer formally denies

liability).

       The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Trice’s motion for

reconsideration because Trice set forth no valid grounds for reconsideration. See

Sch. Dist. No. 1J, Multnomah County, Or. v. ACandS, Inc., 5 F.3d 1255, 1262-63

(9th Cir. 1993) (setting forth standard of review and grounds for reconsideration

under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 59 and 60).

       The district court properly denied Trice’s motion to remand the case to state

court because the district court had subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.

§ 1332. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) (setting forth requirements for diversity

jurisdiction); Yocupicio v. PAE Grp., LLC, 795 F.3d 1057, 1059 (9th Cir. 2015)

(setting forth standard of review); Budget Rent-A-Car, Inc. v. Higashiguchi, 109

F.3d 1471, 1473 (9th Cir. 1997) (“A claim in excess of the requisite amount, made

in good faith in the complaint, satisfies the jurisdictional requirement.”).

       We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued

in the opening brief, including Trice’s contentions regarding the district court’s

                                           2                                     21-16422
dismissal of her good faith and fair dealing and Nevada statutory claims. See

Padgett v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009); Indep. Towers of Wash.

v. Washington, 350 F.3d 925, 929 (9th Cir. 2003) (“[W]e will not consider any

claims that were not actually argued in appellant’s opening brief.”).

      We reject as meritless Trice’s contentions that jurisdiction was “divested”

under 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d) of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and

Enforcement Act; that the district court’s dismissal violated 42 U.S.C. § 1981; and

that the district court’s decision was based on fraud, constituted an obstruction of

justice, violated due process, violated the right to trial, or impermissibly relied on

hearsay.

      AFFIRMED.

                                           3                                     21-16422