Opinion
Civil Action No. 03-2476 (JBS).
March 24, 2006
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon Plaintiff's motion seeking sanctions against Defendant Joseph Callahan pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(b)(2) for failure to comply with the Court's Orders dated February 22, 2005, August 3, 2005, and August 10, 2005 compelling Defendant Callahan to provide outstanding discovery to Plaintiff and pay Plaintiff's attorneys' fees; and Plaintiff specifically requesting the Court to enter default judgment against Defendant Callahan, or alternatively, to strike Defendant's answer, enter default, and award Plaintiff its attorneys' fees; and the Court having considered the Report and Recommendation submitted by the Honorable Ann Marie Donio, United States Magistrate Judge, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) (B) and (C); and no objection to the Report and Recommendation has been received, and the time for objection has expired; and the Court having made a de novo review; and for good cause shown;
1. This Court has reviewed the entire record and adopts the excellent and comprehensive Report and Recommendation of Judge Donio as if set forth in full herein.
2. An inadvertent mistake in the Report and Recommendation will be corrected to conform the Court's conclusion to the remainder of the findings, namely, by modifying the second sentence of the first full paragraph on page 13, to read as follows:
"In light of the Third Circuit's constraint on extreme sanctions `absent the most egregious circumstances' see United States v. $8,221,877.16 in U.S. Currency, 330 F.3d 141, 161 (3d Cir. 2003) (citing Poulis, 747 F.2d at 867-68), the Court does not find at this time that the entry of default judgment is warranted as a sanction. All Poulis factors, however, weigh in favor of a severe sanction, though lesser than default judgment, namely, the striking of Defendant's answer and entry of default, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 37 (b) (2) (C).
IT IS, this 24th day of March, 2006, hereby
ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation, as modified above, is ADOPTED ; and it is further
ORDERED that Defendant Callahan's Answer shall be, and hereby is, stricken pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(b)(2); and it is further
ORDERED that the Clerk enter default in this matter against Defendant Callahan pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 55(a); and it is further
ORDERED that counsel for Plaintiff shall be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees against Defendant Callahan in connection with this motion; and it is further
ORDERED that Plaintiff shall submit an affidavit for fees within fifteen (15) days of the entry of this Order; and it is further
ORDERED that Plaintiff is granted leave to file a Motion for Default Judgment against Defendant Callahan on or before April 14, 2006.