Court Opinion

ID: 9486910
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 12:03:53.433687+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:52:00.433944
License: Public Domain

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
My idea as to what should have been done about the undisputed delinquency of the United States is at variance with the district court’s exercise of its discretion which the majority approves.
There is no excuse in the record for the government’s neglect, a neglect that no court should overlook. My view is simply that the ultimate punishment of dismissal with prejudice was more than necessary and was not tailored with discretion to the particular circumstances. It is only fair to note that this occurred before the present United States Attorney in the Central District of Illinois assumed her office.
It is not the executive branch which must accept the consequences resulting from this dismissal with prejudice, as the majority suggests. The consequences are a loss to the government, the treasury, and the public generally. When the government filed its complaint in March 1992 the amount alleged to be due the government on the mortgage was $235,361.58 plus interest, court costs, title costs, and attorneys’ fees. Now the amount would be greater. Whatever the amount it is lost to the government unless subsequent separate efforts by the government on some dubious theory, as suggested by the government, recovers something. That effort raises separate problems which do not auger well for the government’s success. As things stand now the debtors and guarantors will benefit from an unexpected and unjustified windfall at the government’s expense.
*305The complaint dismissed by the district court consisted of only two counts, each naming different defendants. Count I sought mortgage foreclosure of a 1980 mortgage of Golden Elevator, Inc., while Count II sought a judgment against two unconditional mortgage guarantors, Robert H. Leenerts and Debra J. Leenerts. Though both counts were related to each other, the counts could stand alone and be separately tried.
Only Count I against the mortgagor was the subject of government neglect. The mortgagor, Golden Elevator, moved to dismiss that count for failure to state a claim under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). That motion raised technical defects, nothing substantial. Even the defendant mortgagor argued in the district court that it was anticipated that these claimed defects could easily be cured by the government.
Count II was against the mortgage guarantors only and was not the subject of any motion to dismiss. Count II was answered by the guarantors and was at issue when dismissed. The guarantors filed a routine answer to this count admitting some of the government’s allegations and asking for strict proof as to the others. No affirmative defenses were raised.
Initially the government was attentive and diligent in this case. In response to Golden Elevator’s motion to dismiss Count I, with the court’s permission, the government amended the complaint, thereby correcting one of the five alleged errors. On September 30, 1992, the government also filed a response to the motion to dismiss regarding the remaining alleged errors. Golden Elevator filed its memorandum in support of its motion on December 1. The government did not file a reply memorandum by a December 9 deadline. As a result, on December 31 the magistrate judge ordered the government to file a memorandum in further support of its opposition to Golden Elevator’s motion to dismiss, but no reply memorandum was filed. Judge Mills took over at this stage and eventually denied the motion to dismiss on February 9, 1993. Upon a motion by Golden Elevator Judge Mills reconsidered and, by order of March 18,1993, warned the government to file a second amended complaint to address the four remaining unresolved defects contained in the original complaint or the case would be dismissed. No mention of failure to prosecute or dismissal with prejudice was mentioned in this order. Those important details appeared only in Judge Mills’ subsequent order of April 7, 1993 which dismissed with prejudice. It was not noted by the district court that those defects raised by Golden Elevator in its motion to dismiss related only to Count I, not Count II.
I consider it an abuse of discretion in those circumstances to dismiss the entire case with prejudice. To have dismissed the whole complaint but without prejudice would no doubt have been adequate to wake up the government attorney. That would have prompted an amended complaint and permitted getting on with the merits of the lawsuit.
If something more serious was thought needed to get the government attorney’s attention the dismissal of only Count I with prejudice, the only count for which a defendant sought dismissal, would have been more than enough. In that event Count II which was at issue could have been set for trial. It would, however, have been less complicated and adequate if the court had first tried some alternative short of dismissal, and certainly not dismissed with prejudice.
I see no justification for dismissing Count II. In my view, it was an exaggeration and premature to say that the government’s neglect as to Count I evidenced an abandonment of the total case. The case could have been tried on Count II. Count II could have remained in the samé complaint even with Count I dismissed out. This case was routine and simple. The complaint was not long or complex. In such a case I am not aware of the “neatness” of the pleadings being a factor.
The blame is put by the majority on the government for failing to ask the district judge to restrict his ruling to the foreclosure claim and not to the whole case. The government did not until it was too late, but it should have. Nevertheless since the mortgagor’s dismissal motion applied only to Count I, it was the court’s order which was broader than necessary. The resulting sanction was *306more harsh than would likely have been necessary to accomplish the desired movement of the litigation. In the event there had been further neglect, this case could have been quickly ended, but I believe it was prematurely done at this time..
The majority relies to a large extent on Ball v. City of Chicago, 2 F.3d 752 (7th Cir.1993). Ball holds, as the majority states, that “sanctions should be proportionate to the wrong.” I agree with that requirement of proportionality. The majority further cites Ball as holding that “a plaintiffs failure to comply with the court’s order interferes with the conduct of the litigation and justifies dismissal.” That is an accepted and necessary principle. There is more to Ball, however. Ball contains a most helpful analysis of the governing principles of dismissal for want of prosecution set forth, as it says, for the guidance of district judges. I welcome the application of Ball to this case, and apparently only differ with my colleagues in its application here. Ball helpfully gathers in one opinion what the law was generally believed to be, but without making new law. Ball unfortunately came out a few months too late to serve as a refresher for Judge Mills. The plaintiffs neglect set out in Ball was varied and applicable to that case as a whole, not to just one count as in this present case. It is helpful to review some of the other suggestions in Ball.
Ball takes note of the age of the case to be dismissed. In Ball it was twenty-seven months old, “not ancient.” Id. at 754. The present case was less than a year old and not without activity.
Ball also characterizes plaintiffs lawyers as “rude, dilatory, evasive, disrespectful, indeed contemptuous.” Id. at 754. In this case counsel was negligent, not evasive, disrespectful, or contemptuous.
Ball considers the dismissal law in other circuits, for instance in the Third Circuit where “before dismissing a suit for failure to prosecute the district judge must notify plaintiffs directly.” Id. at 754, citing Dunbar v. Triangle Lumber & Supply Co., 816 F.2d 126, 129 (3d Cir.1987). In this circuit that rule also appears, but only in dicta. Ball, 2 F.3d at 756. Particularly when the government as usual is represented by the United States Attorney who does not ordinarily handle litigation in this negligent fashion it is apparent that it was the personal default of an Assistant United States Attorney, not office policy. The judge could well have had a status call with notice to the United States Attorney personally. That would likely have resulted in an explanation and a quick remedy by the government. Ball does not mandate that notice be given to the client, but it does suggest its usefulness. Id.
In Ball this court commends to district judges as sound practice, but does not lay down the rule, that dismissal be a last resort “to be used only when efforts to get the lawyer to behave have failed or are adjudged fruitless.” Id. at 758. That approach does not appear to have been considered in this case, except for the warning of the dire consequences which quickly followed. Sanctions could have been levied against the government or the government’s attorney personally. See Chilcutt v. United States, 4 F.3d 1313 (5th Cir.1993) (ordering Assistant United States Attorney to personally pay attorneys’ fees and costs as sanction for discovery abuses); United States v. Sumitomo Marine & Fire Ins. Co., 617 F.2d 1365 (9th Cir.1980) (imposing sanctions personally against government’s counsel); Mattingly v. United States, 989 F.2d 816 (9th Cir.1991) (holding that the government is not immune from Rule 11 sanctions); United States v. KenMar Assoc., Ltd., 697 F.Supp. 400, 405 (W.D.Okla.1987) (imposing sanctions against government in its mortgage foreclosure suit including defendant party’s attorney’s fees and costs, along with a reprimand for the Assistant United States Attorney).
Ball suggests that the delay caused by plaintiffs neglect of its own suit can work hardships on defendants and that is to be considered, as well as the impact on the trial judge’s calendar. Ball, 2 F.3d at 752. In the short period of time involved in this case the prejudice to defendants could not have been much and none was claimed. Monetary sanctions could have assuaged whatever harm resulted to plaintiffs. A routine mortgage foreclosure of likely short duration could not be very disruptive of a trial calen*307dar. In any event these considerations do not appear to have been considered.
Another very important consideration of Ball is that “it is entirely proper for the judge to consider the likely merits of the suit in deciding whether to dismiss for failure to prosecute.” Id. at 759. The foreclosure of a government mortgage and a suit against the guarantors ordinarily would not be expected to be frivolous, but to have merit. The “wrongdoer,” as things now stand, will “get off scot-free.” Id. at 759. That element also appears not to have been considered.
In Ball where the situation was more egregious than in the present case the court concluded that on “balance,” after weighing the various factors we have touched on here, dismissal was justified, there was no abuse of discretion, and affirmed. However, the Ball court adds the telling comment that “we might well have ruled differently had we been in her place.” Id. at 760. This present case is not as serious a dereliction as in Ball.
Ball, in sum, makes it clear that contemplating dismissal with prejudice “should induce caution.” Id. at 753.
It is easy to see why the trial judge was irritated by the government’s negligence and sanctioned it to a quick end, but that is not the exercise of discretion and caution that is first required. More discretion is usually required of a district judge than a doomsday warning and its imposition. This dismissal, in these circumstances, as I see it, is a clear abuse of discretion. There were other less drastic, less final, but still promising things that should first have been considered. This case greatly weakens the Ball precedent of a cautious, considered approach without a rush to dismissal.
Therefore, I must respectfully dissent from the views of my colleagues. I would vacate the dismissal and return the case to Judge Mills, not some other judge, to get the pleadings in shape and to try the case in short order. Rule 11 sanctions could be considered. If the government did not react properly to this opportunity, which I cannot imagine, and Judge Mills again dismissed the government’s ease as he then should, there would be no further dissent from me.