Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

Dismissal with Prejudice Appropriate for Failure to Plead Properly after “Repeated Opportunities” — No Right to Amend If Failure to Particularize Has Been Called to Plaintiff’s Attention but Not Cured

From Destfino v. Reiswig, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1375 (9th Cir. Jan. 21, 2011):

The district court's "decision to dismiss the [second] amended complaint with prejudice was appropriate in light of [plaintiffs'] repeated failure to cure the deficiencies in [their] pleadings." *** It is well-established that a court may dismiss an entire complaint with prejudice where plaintiffs have failed to plead properly after "repeated opportunities." *** Here, the district court gave plaintiffs several chances to amend, with detailed instructions as to what they needed to do to fix the problems with their complaint. Plaintiffs failed to comply with these orders and it was therefore proper for the court to dismiss their entire complaint without further leave to amend.

Finally, plaintiffs argue that sanctioning them by dismissing the second amended complaint without leave to amend was not within the district court's authority. They misread the court's order dismissing the second amended complaint as imposing a dismissal sanction under 28 U.S.C. § 1927, which only authorizes monetary sanctions. It's true that defendants moved for monetary sanctions, both pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1927 and the court's inherent power. But the court declined to grant a monetary award to plaintiffs because it didn't have a "specific request for monetary sanctions before it." Instead, the court acted well within its inherent power to control its docket by dismissing the complaint with prejudice, finding this to be "sanction" enough. *** This dismissal can hardly be called a sanction anyway, since plaintiffs had no right to any further amendment. See Zucco Partners, 552 F.3d at 1007 ("[W]here the plaintiff has previously been granted leave to amend and has subsequently failed to add the requisite particularity to its claims, [t]he district court's discretion to deny leave to amend is particularly broad." (internal quotation marks omitted) (second alteration in original)).

Share this article:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Recent Posts

(1) Appellate Review of Inherent Power Sanctions (7th Circuit): Factual Findings Reviewed for Clear Error, Choice of Sanction for Abuse of Discretion — 4-Element Test for Reversal; (2) Sanctions and Class Actions: Monetary Sanctions Properly Imposed on Defendants for Improper Communications with Class Members (Represented Parties) — “[I]f The Class And The Class Opponent Are Involved In An Ongoing Business Relationship, Communications From The Class Opponent To The Class May Be Coercive” (Good Quote); (3) Monetary Sanctions under Goodyear v. Haeger: If Same Fact-Gathering Would Have Been Conducted Absent The Misconduct, No But-For Causation — But Only “Rough Justice” Required, “Not Accountant-Like Precision” (Good Quote) — Once Misconduct Is Clear, Time Spent Ferreting It Out Compensable under Goodyear; (4) Goodyear Did Not Overrule Long-Standing Rule That Courts May Impose Modest Civil Monetary Sanctions to Curb Litigation Abuse; (5) Appellate Jurisdiction Lacking Where Sanctioned Attorney Fails to File Notice of Appeal and Lawyer’s Intent to Appeal Not Apparent from Client’s Notice; (5) Rule 11 Improper Purpose — Party May Have Many Purposes for Pursuing Claim — As Long As Claim Is Supported by Good Faith Belief in the Merits, “A Parallel Reason Does Not Violate Rule 11” — To Deny A Motion for Sanctions, The District Court Need Not Address Every Argument: “Arguments Clearly Without Merit Can, And For The Sake Of Judicial Economy Should, Be Passed Over In Silence” (Good Quote); Non-Monetary Sanction on Counsel: Complete Twice The Required Amount Of Professional Responsibility Hours For Her Next Continuing Legal Education Cycle Imposed By The State Bar

Archives