United States Liability Insurance Company v. A&B Market Plus, Inc.
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Gonzalo P. Curiel (author)
Analysis
The court reviewed a joint stipulation by all parties to voluntarily dismiss the action with prejudice following a prior invalid motion. The court dismissed the action with prejudice and ordered each party to bear its own attorney's fees and costs.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Dismissal of the action with prejudice“the Court hereby DISMISSES the instant Action with prejudice, for good cause and pursuant to the Parties’ joint stipulation, (ECF No. 40)” | agree with court The dismissal is procedurally proper under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i) because all parties who had appeared (including those who had filed answers) signed the stipulation. The court correctly noted that the prior motion was invalid due to the lack of signatures from all appearing parties, but the subsequent joint stipulation cured this defect. The order to bear own costs is consistent with the stipulation. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the procedural defect in the initial motion (lack of signatures from all appearing parties) and validates the subsequent joint stipulation. It applies the correct rule (Rule 41(a)(1)(A)) and cites a persuasive district court case to support the proposition that such dismissals are self-executing, though it issues an order to eliminate confusion. The reasoning is sound and directly addresses the motion.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 UNITED STATES LIABILITY Case No.: 3:19-cv-00172-GPC-AGS INSURANCE COMPANY, 12 ORDER AND JUDGMENT Plaintiff and Counterdefendant, 13 DISMISSING ACTION. 14 v. (ECF Nos. 38, 40.) 15 A&B MARKET PLUS INC. dba CAMPUS LIQUOR AND DELI; 16 LS&SLG, INC. dba ADAMS AVENUE 17 LIQUOR; WALL FIRST VENTURE INC. dba RJ LIQUOR, OB STAR INC. 18 dba LITICKERS LIQUOR; SAEED 19 SOMO dba MESA FOOD AND LIQUOR; LATIF MAROGY dba 20 SPOTTS LIQUOR and dba SUNRISE 21 MARKET AND GAS; HANI SHAMOUN dba MIKE’S MARKET; 22 NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET 23 ASSOCIATION, INC., 24 Defendants and Counterclaimants. 25 26 On November 5, 2019, Plaintiff and Counterdefendant United States Liability 27 1 || Insurance Company filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the instant action against the 2 || above-captioned Defendants and Counterclaimants. (ECF No. 38.) Plaintiff’s motion was 3 |/invalid as it did not meet the criteria of Plaintiff’s cited rule, Federal Rule of Civil 4 || Procedure (“Rule”) 41(a)(1)(A). Specifically, some Defendants had already filed an 5 || Answer, (see ECF Nos. 11, 13), and Plaintiff's motion was not jointly “signed by all 6 || parties who appeared.” FED. R. Civ. PRo. 41(a)(1)(A). 7 On November 11, 2019, the above-captioned Parties jointly moved for voluntary 8 || dismissal. (ECF No. 40.) This time, all “parties to this action” properly stipulated, “in 9 || consideration of a negotiated settlement executed by them, to the Dismissal with 10 || Prejudice, of this action in its entirety, including all claims and counterclaims stated 11 herein against all parties, with each party to bear its own attorney’s fees and costs.” (/d. at 12 ||2.) A motion of this kind is self-executing “[w]ithout a Court Order.” FED. R. Civ. PRO. 13 ||41(a)(1)(A); see also Cortinas v. Allison, No. 1:19-CV-1244-JLT, 2020 WL 605358, at 14 || *5 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2020) (noting that “the action then will be terminated by operation 15 law” upon the plaintiff's filing of a motion for voluntary dismissal). 16 Nonetheless, to eliminate any potential confusion, the Court hereby DISMISSES 17 || the instant Action with prejudice, for good cause and pursuant to the Parties’ joint 18 || stipulation, (ECF No. 40), and ORDERS that each Party bear its own attorney’s fees and 19 costs. 20 IT IS SO ORDERED. 21 Dated: February 19, 2020 2 A 22 Hon. athe Coke 23 United States District Judge 24 25 26 27 28