Court Opinion

ID: 9475798
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:38:30.720832+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:56.431108
License: Public Domain

SWYGERT, Senior Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
The majority has chosen to substitute its judgment for the district court’s reasonable conclusion in this case. Without compelling reasons to do so, it has departed from this circuit’s deferential standard of review for refusals to reopen default judgments under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b). See, e.g., Dim-mitt & Owens Financial, Inc. v. United States, 787 F.2d 1186, 1192-93 (7th Cir. 1986) (“[W]e are increasingly reluctant to reverse refusals to set [default judgments] aside.”); Tolliver v. Northrop Corp., 786 F.2d 316, 318 (7th Cir.1986) (“ ‘[A]buse of discretion’ in cases under Rule 60(b) is restricted review indeed. It limits review to cases in which no reasonable person could agree with the district court’s decision. Metlyn Realty Corp. v. Esmark, Inc., 763 F.2d 826, 830-32 (7th Cir.1985)”); C.K.S. Engineers, Inc. v. White Mountain Gypsum Co., 726 F.2d 1202, 1205-06 (7th Cir. 1984); United States v. DeFrantz, 708 F.2d 310 (7th Cir.1983); Brewer Electric Mfg. Co. v. Toronado Systems of America, Inc., 687 F.2d 182 (7th Cir.1982).
As we noted in Tolliver:
The decision under Rule 60(b) is discretion piled on discretion, and ... such doubly discretionary decisions stand unless the judge was very far off base — if the judge relied on forbidden factors or omitted to consider some important relevant factor.
786 F.2d at 319. Here, the district court neither relied on forbidden factors nor failed to consider relevant information. The court simply decided that the reasons for Hilton’s failure to file an answer did not meet the standard of excusable neglect. Hilton’s vice president and general counsel, Melvin Milligan, claimed he mailed two letters containing the complaint and additional information to Hilton’s liability carrier, expecting the carrier to proceed with the defense. Both letters apparently were lost in the mail and Milligan never followed up with the carrier to learn the status of the litigation. The district court held that Hilton “failed to show it was not careless or negligent” in neglecting to answer the complaint. Passarella v. Hilton Int’l Co., 108 F.R.D. 421, 425-26 (N.D.Ill.1985). This is surely not an unreasonable conclusion. See Kagan v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., 795 F.2d 601, 607 (7th Cir.1986) (attorney’s ignorance or carelessness does not suffice for “excusable neglect” under Rule 60(b)(1)).
While we might have decided the issue differently, that simply is not our option on review. Instead, we must determine *679whether the district court abused its discretion. The district court’s holding of no excusable neglect surely falls into the discretionary realm of “judgment call.” This was not a clear case and this makes it precisely the kind of case where a court of appeals should step back and give the district court room to exercise that judgment. The district court is in the best position to weigh the “imponderables”: the need for finality of litigation, the expectations of the parties, the unfairness of the default judgment, and the strength of the defendant’s excuse. See Dimmitt & Owens, 787 F.2d at 1193; Tolliver, 786 F.2d at 318-19. Also, although the desire for judicial efficiency should not override considerations of justice, trial judges must closely monitor their calendars and prevent needless delay. Kagan, 795 F.2d at 608. Thus, the “nearly impossible demands placed on trial judges in the overburdened federal court system” also weighs in the balance of imponderables. Id.
In weighing these factors, Judge Shadur made his decision within permissible, reasonable bounds. It is the majority here that oversteps the bounds of our extremely limited standard of review.
I would affirm.