Court Opinion

ID: 9364408
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-19 16:01:49.046774+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:37.764168
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 22-10607    Document: 36-1      Date Filed: 01/19/2023    Page: 1 of 11

                                                   [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                    In the
                 United States Court of Appeals
                         For the Eleventh Circuit

                           ____________________

                                 No. 22-10607
                            Non-Argument Calendar
                           ____________________

        CARLOS ALONSO,
        as an individual,
        FE MOREJON,
                                                     Plaintiffs-Appellants,
        versus
        DR. GLADYS Y. ALONSO,

                                                     Defendant-Appellee.

                           ____________________

                  Appeal from the United States District Court
                      for the Southern District of Florida
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        2                       Opinion of the Court                   22-10607

                        D.C. Docket No. 1:18-cv-23668-RNS
                             ____________________

        Before ROSENBAUM, JILL PRYOR, and GRANT, Circuit Judges.
        PER CURIAM:
               Carlos Alonso and Fe Morejon appeal the dismissal of the
        second amended complaint they filed on behalf of their disabled
        son Angie, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities
        Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The defendant below, Dr. Gladys
        Alonso, has moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of standing and as
        frivolous.
                                           I.
              Carlos Alonso filed a pro se complaint against Dr. Gladys
        Alonso in September 2018, alleging that Gladys 1 discriminated
        against Carlos’s disabled son, Angie, in violation of the Americans
        with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, and retaliated
        against Angie and Carlos when Carlos complained about the dis-
        crimination.
               Gladys’s office manager accepted service of the complaint
        and summons in early November 2018. Gladys failed to file an an-
        swer to the complaint within the time allowed, and at Carlos’s re-
        quest, the clerk entered a default against her. In January 2019,

        1 Because Plaintiff-Appellant Carlos Alonso and Defendant-Appellee Dr.
        Gladys Alonso share the same last name, we use their first names to avoid
        confusion.
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        22-10607               Opinion of the Court                        3

        Gladys appeared through counsel and requested a vacatur of the
        clerk’s default. She explained that her office manager had put the
        summons and complaint with the routine office correspondence,
        which she habitually reviewed only once per month. Gladys main-
        tained that her infrequent review of office mail, along with a busy
        flu season and minimal office staffing, delayed her discovery of the
        summons and complaint and forwarding of the papers to her attor-
        ney. The district court found that good cause existed to vacate the
        default and granted Gladys’s motion over Carlos’s objection.
               About two weeks later, attorney Michael Lutfy filed a notice
        of appearance on Carlos’s behalf. Lutfy represented Carlos and his
        family for almost a year. During that time, he filed two amended
        complaints. The second amended complaint alleged several ADA
        and RA claims brought by Carlos on Angie’s behalf as his legal
        guardian, as well as a state claim brought by Carlos and his wife (Fe
        Morejon, Angie’s mother) for their own emotional-distress inju-
        ries. On the defendant’s motion, however, the district court dis-
        missed the second amended complaint in part—including the claim
        brought by Carlos and Morejon individually—leaving only Angie’s
        claims for discrimination and retaliation under the ADA and RA.
               In November 2019, Lutfy filed a motion to withdraw as
        counsel for the plaintiffs, citing “irreconcilable differences” be-
        tween him and his clients. The magistrate judge granted the mo-
        tion to withdraw, and Carlos continued to litigate his son’s claims
        without counsel for several months. Eventually, the magistrate
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        4                      Opinion of the Court                 22-10607

        judge informed the plaintiffs that they could not proceed on An-
        gie’s behalf without an attorney.
                During the following 18 months of litigation, two more at-
        torneys appeared on Angie’s behalf. Attorney Justin Infurna filed a
        notice of appearance in September 2020, but his law license was
        suspended less than four months later. Attorney Carmelo Palo-
        mino filed a notice of appearance in April 2021, but in January of
        the following year—about two weeks before the scheduled trial
        date—Palomino too filed a motion to withdraw as counsel for the
        plaintiffs. In his motion, Palomino represented that there had been
        “a total breakdown” in communication between him and his cli-
        ents, so that they were unable to discuss the case without his clients
        “shouting, yelling and screaming” at him and “disrespecting, of-
        fending and/or insulting” his “intelligence, competence and mere
        ability to do perform [sic] his services in the instant cause.”
               The district court granted Palomino’s motion to withdraw
        and removed the case from the upcoming trial calendar. The court
        reminded Carlos and Morejon that they could not proceed without
        an attorney because their individual claims had been dismissed and
        they could not proceed pro se on behalf of their son. It instructed
        them to retain new counsel for Angie within 18 days, and it warned
        them that the failure to retain counsel by the deadline would result
        in dismissal of the case.
               Carlos and Morejon did not retain counsel by the district
        court’s deadline. They filed a motion for extension of time to find
        a new lawyer, stating that they had contacted several firms and at
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        22-10607               Opinion of the Court                        5

        least one pro bono program but had not yet found an attorney with
        experience bringing ADA claims who was willing to take the case.
               Carlos and Morejon also filed a motion to amend the com-
        plaint a third time. In the proposed third amended complaint, the
        plaintiffs added new claims by Carlos and Morejon individually, al-
        leging that Gladys discriminated against them based on their asso-
        ciation with Angie and seeking damages for lost wages and emo-
        tional distress as well as punitive damages and unspecified injunc-
        tive relief. The third amended complaint also proposed to add
        what appeared to be medical negligence claims based on Gladys’s
        failure to refer Angie to medical specialists.
                The district court denied the motion for an extension of time
        to retain legal counsel, denied the motion to file a third amended
        complaint, and dismissed the action. The court explained that the
        plaintiffs had had multiple opportunities to obtain counsel but had
        nonetheless been without counsel for almost half of the litigation.
        And based on two of their attorneys’ motions to withdraw, the
        court concluded that the plaintiffs were uncooperative and disre-
        spectful to their attorneys when they were represented by counsel.
        Regarding the plaintiffs’ motion to amend their complaint, the dis-
        trict court concluded that the plaintiffs had not shown good cause
        for amending their complaint more than two years after the dead-
        line to do so had passed.
               The plaintiffs moved for reconsideration of the dismissal or-
        der, arguing that they had always been cooperative and respectful
        toward their attorneys, and that any problems had been caused by
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        6                      Opinion of the Court               22-10607

        their attorneys’ incompetence, dishonest and unprofessional con-
        duct, or lack of diligence. They also argued that Carlos should be
        permitted to represent Angie without an attorney.
              The district court denied the motion for reconsideration,
        and this appeal followed.
                                        II.
               We first consider the defendant’s motion to dismiss the ap-
        peal. To the extent that Gladys argues that Carlos and Morejon
        lack Article III standing to appeal, we disagree. Carlos and Morejon
        challenge two rulings by the district court that were adverse to
        them individually and that were incorporated into the final judg-
        ment: the court’s order vacating the default entered by the clerk
        against Gladys on the initial complaint (which was brought by Car-
        los individually), and its denial of Carlos and Morejon’s motion to
        amend the complaint and add new claims of their own. They are
        thus “adverse to part of the final judgment, which is enough to es-
        tablish appellate standing.” Corley v. Long-Lewis, Inc., 965 F.3d
        1222, 1234 (11th Cir. 2020).
                But as a procedural matter, this Court has held—and the dis-
        trict court repeatedly explained to Carlos and Morejon—that a liti-
        gant who is not an attorney cannot act as legal counsel for anyone
        but himself in federal court. See Devine v. Indian River Cnty. Sch.
        Bd., 121 F.3d 576, 581 (11th Cir. 1997), overruled in part on other
        grounds by Winkelman ex rel. Winkelman v. Parma City Sch.
        Dist., 550 U.S. 516, 535 (2007). Accordingly, we grant Gladys’s
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        22-10607               Opinion of the Court                        7

        motion in part and dismiss the appeal to the extent that Carlos and
        Morejon attempt to act as pro se legal counsel for Angie on appeal.
        We therefore decline to consider their arguments that the district
        court abused its discretion in denying the motion for an extension
        of time to find an attorney for Angie, and in dismissing Angie’s re-
        maining claims in the second amended complaint.
               In her motion, Gladys also argues that the appeal should be
        dismissed as frivolous. The appeal is subject to review for frivo-
        lousness under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 because the appellants were given
        leave to appeal without prepayment of the filing fees. See 28 U.S.C.
        § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). An appeal is frivolous if the claims raised lack
        even arguable merit. Jones v. Ray, 279 F.3d 944, 946 (11th Cir.
        2001); see Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989). A claim is
        not completely without merit if it has sufficient foundation to de-
        serve “careful attention and review.” Busby v. City of Orlando, 931
        F.2d 764, 787 (11th Cir. 1991) (evaluating standard for awarding at-
        torney’s fees).
               As discussed further below, we conclude that the district
        court did not abuse its discretion in vacating the clerk’s entry of
        default against Gladys or in denying the plaintiffs’ motion to file a
        third amended complaint. But because the arguments raised on
        appeal have sufficient substance to warrant careful review, we
        deny the motion to dismiss the appeal as frivolous.
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        8                      Opinion of the Court                22-10607

                                        III.
                                         A.
               The plaintiffs first argue that the district court erred by
        granting the defendant’s motion to set aside the clerk’s entry of de-
        fault. We review this ruling for abuse of discretion. See EEOC v.
        Mike Smith Pontiac GMC, Inc., 896 F.2d 524, 528 (11th Cir. 1990).
               Rule 55 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that
        a district court may set aside a clerk’s entry of default for “good
        cause.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(c). The “good cause” standard is flexible
        and may encompass a variety of factors depending on the circum-
        stances. Compania Interamericana Exp.-Imp., S.A. v. Compania
        Dominicana de Aviacion, 88 F.3d 948, 951 (11th Cir. 1996). Such
        factors include “whether the default was culpable or willful,
        whether setting it aside would prejudice the adversary, and
        whether the defaulting party presents a meritorious defense.” Id.
        “Good cause” is a liberal standard—more forgiving than the “ex-
        cusable neglect” standard for setting aside a default judgment un-
        der Rule 60(b)—“but not so elastic as to be devoid of substance.”
        Id.; Mike Smith Pontiac GMC, Inc., 896 F.2d at 528.
               The plaintiffs challenge the district court’s finding of good
        cause, arguing that because the “receptionist” who accepted ser-
        vice of the complaint and summons was actually Gladys’s son and
        office manager, she must have known about the suit immediately
        and simply chosen to ignore it. Although the plaintiffs’ skepticism
        is understandable, the district court’s decision to credit Gladys’s
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        22-10607                Opinion of the Court                         9

        sworn testimony attributing the delay to simple negligence or mis-
        take was not unreasonable. Carlos—the only plaintiff named in the
        complaint at the time—was not prejudiced by the delay of approx-
        imately six weeks, especially considering that he himself had a
        pending request to stay the proceedings while he tried to find a
        lawyer to represent him. And in her motion to vacate the default,
        Gladys presented two potentially meritorious defenses by arguing
        that the periodic home visits she made were a sufficient accommo-
        dation for Angie, and that some of Carlos’s claims were actually
        medical malpractice claims for which he had not satisfied the stat-
        utory prerequisites. The district court did not abuse its discretion
        by vacating the clerk’s default.
                                          B.
                Next, the plaintiffs contend that the district court abused its
        discretion by denying their request for leave to amend their com-
        plaint for a third time. See Oravec v. Sunny Isles Luxury Ventures,
        L.C., 527 F.3d 1218, 1231 (11th Cir. 2008) (reviewing ruling on a
        motion to amend for abuse of discretion). We do not agree. Once
        the district court has entered a scheduling order setting a deadline
        to amend the pleadings, the schedule “may be modified only for
        good cause and with the judge’s consent.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(b)(4).
        “This good cause standard precludes modification unless the sched-
        ule cannot be met despite the diligence of the party seeking the ex-
        tension.” Sosa v. Airprint Sys., Inc., 133 F.3d 1417, 1418 (11th Cir.
        1998) (quotation omitted).
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        10                     Opinion of the Court                22-10607

               The plaintiffs failed to show good cause to modify the sched-
        uling-order deadline to amend the pleadings. They were fully
        aware of their individual claims and could have added them to any
        of their three prior complaints. And even if the missed-diagnosis
        claim could be considered a new claim of discrimination under the
        ADA or the RA (a doubtful proposition that we assume only for
        the sake of argument), the plaintiffs did not explain why they
        waited more than two years after the condition was diagnosed to
        request leave to amend the complaint and add the claim. The dis-
        trict court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to
        amend.
                                        IV.
               Plaintiffs Carlos Alonso and Fe Morejon have standing to
        challenge the district court’s rulings that were adverse to them, and
        the issues they raise on appeal are not frivolous. We therefore
        DENY Dr. Gladys Alonso’s motion to dismiss to the extent that it
        seeks to dismiss the appeal for lack of standing and as frivolous. We
        GRANT the motion to dismiss to the extent that Carlos and More-
        jon attempt to proceed on appeal without an attorney on behalf of
        their disabled son.
                As to the remaining issues, we conclude that the district
        court did not abuse its discretion in granting the defendant’s mo-
        tion to vacate the clerk’s entry of default, or in denying the plain-
        tiffs’ motion to amend their complaint a third time. We therefore
        affirm.
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        22-10607            Opinion of the Court                   11

              AFFIRMED.