Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Appellate Review Is Waived as to Any Non-Dispositive Magistrate Judge Order Not Timely Objected to before District Court

Seto v. Thielen, 519 Fed. Appx. 966; 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 3953 (9th Cir. 2013):

A motion for leave to amend is a nondispositive motion which a magistrate judge may properly decide. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A); Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a); U.S. Dominator, Inc. v. Factory Ship Robert E. Resoff, 768 F.2d 1099, 1102 & n.1 (9th Cir. 1985), superseded by rule on other grounds as recognized by Simpson v. Lear Astronics Corp., 77 F.3d 1170, 1174 (9th Cir. 1996). Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(a) provides, however, an opportunity for a party to file objections to the magistrate judge's order, and "[a] party may not assign as error a defect in the [magistrate judge's] order not timely objected to." Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(a). We have held that "a party who fails to file timely objections to a magistrate judge's nondispositive order with the district judge to whom the case is assigned forfeits its right to appellate review of that order." Simpson, 77 F.3d at 1174. Plaintiffs failed to file any objections to the magistrate judge's nondispositive order, forfeiting their right to appellate review of this issue.

 

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