Court Opinion

ID: 9452846
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 17:54:05.989844+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:33:23.154312
License: Public Domain

BURGER, Circuit Judge
(concurring) :
Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(b) provides for dismissal of an action for failure “to prosecute or to comply with these rules or any order of court” and states that, “Unless the court in its order for dismissal otherwise specifies, a dismissal under this subdivision and any dismissal not provided for in this rule * * * operates [sic] as an adjudication upon the merits.” For the court to “specify” that dismissal is to be without prejudice it must make a clear statement to that effect. Neither Local Rule 12 of the District Court nor the order dismissing Appellant’s case specified that the dismissal was without prejudice. Judge McGowan’s discussion demonstrates that the District Court by its rule did not decide affirmatively to rebut the assumption of Rule 41(b) that dismissals are with prejudice; hence Rule 41 by its terms requires that the dismissal here was with prejudice.
*878However, I reach the same result as the majority since it seems clear that Local Rule 12 is inconsistent with Rule 41(b) in providing for dismissal by pretrial examiners and is therefore invalid.1 It is well established that under Rule 41 (b) the District Judge has the discretionary power to dismiss an action and that he may do so with or without prejudice.2 Local Rule 12, however, provides that if plaintiff’s counsel fails to appear at a pre-trial hearing before a pre-trial examiner, “the Examiner shall enter his default.” 3 At the same time, Local Rule 12 provides that if counsel fails to appear before a pre-trial Judge, the Judge “may act as in the case of non-appearance for final trial.”4 Local Rule 12 thus seems to require dismissal of the action when éo'unsel fails to appear before a pre-trial examiner, leaving no room for the exercise of judgment with regard to the justice of that drastic action in a given case. I see no warrant in Rule 41(h) for establishing mechanical substitutes for the exercise of discretion contemplated by that rule or for the District Judge’s abdicating their responsibility or delegating it to a non-judicial officer.5 Trials on the merits are favored,6 and the decisions involved in the application of Rule 41(b) can determine whether a litigant will have his day in court. There is nothing to indicate that Rule 41(b) permits this important matter to be delegated to non-judicial personnel.7
The provision in Local Rule 12 for a District Judge’s review of a pre-trial examiner’s order is not an adequate substitute for the judicial exercise of discretion, especially since review is available only if objections are filed within five days. As this case indicates, a party who has missed a pre-trial hearing is likely to be unaware of his omission and the consequences of it for more than five days.
Irrespective of the status of the pretrial examiner’s dismissal, I would remand to permit Appellant to move under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) (6) to set aside the judgment in the interests of justice. Appellant’s counsel allegedly missed the pre-trial conference because during the fall in which the conference was scheduled he was “preoccupied” with preparing a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court for review of his own criminal conviction. While as a rule a client must bear the consequences of the acts or omissions of his attorney, whom he chose,8 I do not believe that a client should be held to anticipate that his counsel may be in durance vile or seeking to fend off that condition.
I would remand the case to permit Appellant to invoke the District Court’s discretion under Rule 60(b) (6) and to demonstrate that he did not know his attorney was involved in criminal proceedings and that this attorney was so overwhelmed by the consequences of his own criminal litigation that he overlooked his *879client’s business as a result.9 Such a motion is still open to Appellant; motions under Rule 60(b) (6) must be made in a reasonable time, but need not be made within one year.

. Fed.R.Civ.P. 83.

. E.g., Link v. Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 633, 82 S.Ct. 1386, 8 L.Ed.2d 734 (1962); Grunewald v. Mo. Pac. R.R. Co., 331 F.2d 983 (8th Cir. 1964).

. Emphasis added.

. Emphasis added.

. See Newberry v. Cohen, No. 20,359, Feb. 6, 1967, 126 U.S.App.D.C. 106, 374 F.2d 320.

. E.g., Thorpe v. Thorpe, 124 U.S.App.D.C. 299, 364 F.2d 692 (1966).

. Local Rule 13, providing for automatic dismissal without prejudice for failure to prosecute, seems to suffer from á similar infirmity as Rule 12 since it makes no provision for court participation in the dismissal. I do not consider dismissal, even without prejudice, for failure to prosecute as “ministerial”; there may well be circumstances which justify the delay, and a plaintiff should have the opportunity to present these to the court. But see Newberry v. Cohen, No. 20,359, Feb. 6, 1967, 126 U.S.App.D.C. 106, 374 F.2d 320.

. This ease illustrates the hazards inherent in the dubious practice of permitting a lawyer to continue in practice after a felony conviction, which is per se grounds for disbarment. A lawyer convicted of a felony should suspend all his appearances for clients.

. Link v. Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 633-634, 82 S.Ct. 1386, 8 L.Ed.2d 734 (1962).