Court Opinion

ID: 9470039
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:55:51.866844+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:42.134348
License: Public Domain

FULLAM, District Judge,
concurring:
I agree with Judge Becker that Donnelly v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 677 F.2d 339 (3d Cir.1982), requires us to remand this case to the district court for reconsideration, and I concur in Judge Becker’s Opinion except to the extent that it can be read as suggesting that dismissal might be an appropriate sanction in this case. I write separately to explain why I believe dismissal at this stage would be inappropriate, and to address certain of the concerns reflected in the dissenting opinion.
I agree with our dissenting colleague that a discretionary decision by a district court is reversible only for abuse of discretion, and that reversal is not warranted merely because the reviewing court would have exercised discretion differently. But dismissal of an eight-month-old case for failure to prosecute is, on its face, a sufficiently remarkable occurrence to justify appellate inquiry into the reasons for the dismissal.
In the present case, the district judge merely accepted the recommendation of the United States Magistrate. The reasons advanced by the magistrate in support of the recommendation are succinctly stated in her report: “To date, plaintiff has failed to comply with this court’s order and has failed to prosecute this case.” The report makes clear that the magistrate was referring to the repeated failures of plaintiff’s counsel to comply with the magistrate’s requirements respecting the preparation of a final pretrial order. It is necessary to view these failures in the context in which they occurred.
On January 26, 1981, plaintiff instituted this action, using a form of complaint supplied by the court for use in Title VII cases. *752The form complaint is a model of clarity and simplicity. Anyone reading that complaint learns immediately and unmistakably what the issues in this litigation are: Plaintiff claims simply that on a specified date he was discharged from his employment by the defendant because of racial considerations. The factual issues to be resolved at trial (or perhaps by summary judgment) are straightforward: Was plaintiffs race a factor in the discharge decision, or was plaintiff discharged for valid, non-discriminatory, reasons as claimed by the defendant?
In the normal course, it would seem that both sides could adequately prepare for an efficient trial with minimal effort. The defendant was entitled to know what support plaintiff might have for his assertion of racial discrimination, the plaintiff was entitled to know what proof the defendant would advance in justification of the discharge, and both sides were entitled to submit their dispute for resolution in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. And, of course, the court was entitled to manage the case in order to achieve a prompt and efficient resolution of all issues of fact and law which needed to be resolved.
The case was referred to the United States Magistrate for pretrial processing. On March 11, 1981, approximately six weeks after the complaint was filed, the magistrate issued a six-page pretrial notice, announcing a series of elaborate, burdensome, and largely wasteful steps that the parties would have to undertake in preparation for trial. The magistrate is not to be faulted for having sent the notice, because she was merely complying with a local rule of court mandating that procedure in all civil cases.
It should be noted that similar local rules have been struck down in other circuits, as violative of F.R.C.P. 16. J.F. Edwards Construction Co. v. Anderson Safeway, et al., 542 F.2d 1318 (7th Cir.1976); Identiseal Corp. of Wisconsin v. Positive Identification Systems, Inc., 560 F.2d 298 (7th Cir.1977); McCargo v. Hedrick, 545 F.2d 393 (4th Cir.1976). As stated by the McCargo court,
“The idea [of pretrial procedures] is to help the lawyers and the litigants — not to exhaust them ... (545 F.2d at p. 396).
“Rule 16 was never meant to make lawyers try a case on paper instead of in a courtroom. In fact, it contemplates that the district judge himself will dictate the pretrial order. Of course, the court may seek the aid of counsel in preparing the order, but Rule 16 should not be implemented in such a manner that the pretrial procedure itself is more difficult and time-consuming than the actual trial . ...” (545 F.2d at p. 401).
It is the failure of plaintiffs counsel to render full and timely compliance with the requirement, set forth in the magistrate’s notice, that plaintiff’s counsel must bear the primary responsibility for preparing an elaborate final pretrial order that caused the dismissal of the action. In my view, dismissal for that reason can be justified only if the requirement was reasonable. While a district court must be accorded broad discretion in managing its calendar, that principle does not shield from appellate review utterly unreasonable and counterproductive “make-work” requirements which serve no valid case-management goal.
The notice employed in this case required plaintiff’s counsel to prepare a final pretrial order which includes the following:
1. Under item 6, “A statement of the facts claimed by (a) plaintiff, (b) defendant, (c) other parties.”
2. Under item 7, “A comprehensive written statement of all uncontested material facts.”
3. Under item 8, “A single listing of the contested issues of fact.” This is followed by the parenthetical advice, “(This does not mean that counsel must concur in a statement of the issues; it simply means that they must list in a single list all issues of fact. Where the parties do not agree on an issue, there shall be a succinct indication of the reason for their difference).” This is followed by a detailed listing of six different kinds of information which, if involved in the case, “shall be specified with particularity.”
*7534. Under item 9, “A single listing of the contested issues of law.”
5. In addition, “Suggested findings of fact and suggested conclusions of law separately stated in separately numbered paragraphs shall be delivered to the court and opposing counsel not later than two weeks prior to the trial date, unless specific leave to the contrary is granted by the court. Not later than one week prior to trial each side shall deliver to the court and opposing counsel a critique of the other side’s suggested findings. This critique shall also indicate where counsel is in agreement with a suggested finding. The suggested findings of fact should contain a detailed listing of the relevant material facts that the party intends to prove. They should not be in formal language, but should be in simple narrative form. The proposed conclusions of law should contain a full exposition of the legal theories that counsel urges.”
6. Under item 15(b), “In either a jury or non-jury case, add the following provision: ‘Each party shall file with the court a separate memorandum of contentions of fact and law at least ten days prior to trial. This memorandum should contain a full exposition of the theory of the case and a statement, in narrative form, of what the party expects to prove [except that matters previously covered in the suggested findings of fact need not be repeated in the trial memorandum].”
7. A requirement that all witnesses be listed, together with “a statement of the general subject matter of their testimony.”
8. All exhibits are not merely to be listed, but also described. Moreover,
“11(a) Each list of exhibits first should describe those that are to be admitted without objection, and then those to which there will be objection, noting by whom the objection is made (if there are multiple adverse parties), and the nature of the objection. Markers (obtained from the Clerk) should be attached to all exhibits at the time they are shown to opposing counsel during preparation of the pretrial order.”
More than forty years ago, the Federal Rules substituted notice pleading for fact pleading, and supposedly freed courts and counsel from the rigors and pitfalls of common-law pleadings. The Federal Rules contemplate that the pertinent facts will be developed before trial through discovery or through voluntary exchanges of information. It is, of course, not objectionable to require a recapitulation of pertinent details in a pretrial submission, so that the court and the parties will have the necessary information conveniently available. But there is plainly no warrant for requiring endless repetition, or for resurrecting the equivalent of common-law technicalities.
Other features of the pretrial notice in this case bear mention. Counsel were required either to certify that all discovery was completed, or to specify in the final pretrial order what remaining discovery was contemplated. Just how anyone could be expected to file a comprehensive final pretrial order before completion of discovery is not explained. Virtually all experienced judges and trial lawyers would agree that it is pointless to hold a final pretrial conference, or to submit a “final” pretrial order, too far in advance of trial. Yet the notice in this case required counsel to submit a final pretrial order in June, in a case which had been commenced at the end of January, and in which the October 15 discovery cutoff was not established until September. And the prescribed form of pretrial order plainly contemplates submission far in advance of trial.
It would unduly lengthen this Opinion to recite the many other features of this six-page pretrial notice which are either facially invalid or highly questionable. It suffices to state that the combination of mandatory, precatory, and cautionary provisions rival the Internal Revenue Code and Regulations in complexity; their application to particular cases seems inevitably destined to occasion frequent recourse to the court for resolution of disputes, not over the merits of the case or compliance with the Federal Rules, but over whether the court’s pretrial requirements are being properly observed, or should be altered.
*754The final point to be emphasized is that this pretrial notice imposes grossly disproportionate burdens upon counsel for the respective parties. Plaintiff’s counsel is assigned the lion’s share of the work involved, not just in preparing his own case for trial, but in achieving, formulating, and presenting a document which assimilates his opponent’s case. One searches the Federal Rules in vain for authorization for that lack of balance.
The “litigation explosion” is a serious problem. Everyone agrees that increased efficiency in the disposition of litigation is essential, and that early and continued judicial management of cases is desirable. There are two problems to be faced, congested calendars and excessive litigation expense. Both problems are appropriately addressed by pretrial procedures which, on the one hand, both identify the cases which should go to trial and the issues in those cases which need to be resolved, and also ensure that the issues which need to be tried are efficiently presented; and, on the other hand, require no greater expenditure of time and effort by counsel than is reasonably necessary to achieve those goals.
It is undoubtedly true that congested trial dockets could be alleviated by erecting such formidable pretrial barriers that only hardy souls with ample resources would have the stamina to surmount them, but no one would seriously commend that device as a solution to court congestion. Unfortunately, the mechanical application of elaborate pretrial requirements to simple cases is a step in that direction, albeit unintentional. Adoption of that approach is especially unfortunate in cases where, as here, there is such substantial disparity between the parties, in terms of their financial resources and the competency of their counsel.
I hold no brief for plaintiff’s counsel in this case. His appellate performance has been abysmal, and the record suggests his efforts at the trial level were similarly flawed. But the in terrorem impact of the pretrial notice with which he was confronted cannot be ignored, in assessing the appropriate sanction for counsel’s default. In the final analysis, his chief error was that he attempted, ineffectually and tardily, to comply with the notice, whereas he should have resisted it, or sought relief from it. I have no doubt that some relief from the strictures of the pretrial notice would have been granted by the district judge in this case, had application been made. For counsel’s failure to seek such relief, dismissal of the action is, I believe, entirely too severe a sanction.
I do not overlook the distinct possibility that perceived weaknesses in his client’s cause may well have contributed to counsel’s dilatoriness and inaction. If so, summary disposition on the merits might be appropriate; but the merits of the case are not before us, nor were they before the district court.
I therefore concur in the conclusion that the judgment of dismissal must be vacated, and the case remanded for further proceedings, which may include the imposition of appropriate sanctions. While it is my view that, on this record, dismissal would not be an appropriate sanction for counsel’s irregularities to date, I acknowledge the possibility that the district judge may be confronted with a more complete record which might support a different conclusion. In order to achieve a definitive disposition of this appeal, I concur in the judgment.