Opinion
Case No. 5:13-cv-03325-PSG
06-18-2014
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
SANCTIONS
(Re: Docket No. 72)
Before the court is Defendant Lisa Nava's motion for sanctions pursuant to Rule 11. Plaintiffs Lawrence Brooks, Darlene Leong and LRB's Direct, LLC oppose. Yesterday the parties appeared for a hearing on the motion. After considering the arguments in the papers and at the hearing, the court DENIES the motion.
A "stipulated dismissal of an action with prejudice in a federal district court generally constitutes a final judgment on the merits and precludes a party from reasserting the same claims in a subsequent action in the same court." A voluntary dismissal "with prejudice" operates as an adjudication upon the merits, bailing further action on the same claims. The local rules further provide: "Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, no motion for sanctions may be served and filed more than 14 days after entry of judgment by the District Court."
Headwaters Inc. v. U.S. Forest Serv., 399 F.3d 1047, 1052 (9th Cir. 2005) (citing Concha v. London, 62 F.3d 1493, 1507-08 (9th Cir. 1995)); see also Schmier v. McDonald's LLC, 569 F.3d 1240, 1242 (10th Cir. 2009).
"A voluntary dismissal with prejudice operates as a final adjudication on the merits," Warfield v. AlliedSignal TBS Holdings, Inc., 267 F.3d 538, 542 (6th Cir. 2001), and is thus a "final judgment," Randall v. Merrill Lynch, 820 F.2d 1317, 1320 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (internal quotation marks omitted); see 8 James Wm. Moore et al., Moore's Federal Practice § 41.33[6][c] at 41-84 ("A dismissal by notice made with prejudice operates as an adjudication on the merits.").
Semteklnt'l Inc. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 531 U.S. 497, 505 (2001).
Civil L.R. 7-8(d).
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Because the court entered a dismissal with prejudice in this matter as to Lisa Nava on April 8, 2014, and this sanctions motion was not filed until May 5, 2014 - more than fourteen days after the dismissal with prejudice was entered - this motion is untimely. Sanctions are not warranted.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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PAUL S. GREWAL
United States Magistrate Judge
See also Federated Towing & Recovery, LLC v. Praetorian Ins. Co., 283 F.R.D. 644, 655 (D.N.M. 2012) (quoting Janssen v. Harris, 321 F.3d 998, 1000 (10th Cir. 2003) ("any action a district court takes following a voluntary dismissal under rule 41(a)(1) is 'superfluous, a nullity, and without procedural effect for purposes of appeal or otherwise'")).