Opinion
Civil Action 2:20-00518-N
01-21-2022
PACCAR FINANCIAL CORP., a Corporation, Plaintiff, v. SMITH'S PREHAUL, INC., et al., Defendants.
ORDER
KATHERINE P. NELSON, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
On September 29, 2021, the Plaintiff filed a “Joint Stipulation of Dismissal Without Prejudice” (Doc. 37) purporting to dismiss without prejudice its claims against Defendant Sandra C. Smith a/k/a Sandra Kay Crocker Smith, Kay Crocker Smith, and Kay C. Smith (hereinafter, “Sandra Smith”). On December 30, 2021, the Plaintiff filed a “Joint Notice of Settlement” (Doc. 48) representing that it has settled with the remaining defendants and “hope[s] to have the case dismissed within the next week.” To date, the parties have filed nothing else.
With the consent of the parties, this civil action has been referred to the undersigned Magistrate Judge to conduct all proceedings, including trial; to order entry of final judgment; and to conduct all post-judgment proceedings, in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(c), Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73, and S.D. Ala. GenLR 73. (See Docs. 26, 27).
In order to be effective, a stipulation of dismissal must be “signed by all parties who have appeared.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). However, the Plaintiff did not properly sign the stipulation for the Defendants' counsel in accordance with the Court's administrative procedures, and the Defendants' counsel did not cure this deficiency by filing a notice of endorsement of the stipulation when requested to do so by the Office of the Clerk of Court in an October 1, 2021 email. However, “a district court need not await a motion from a plaintiff to permit voluntary dismissal and may act sua sponte to dismiss under Rule 41(a)(2).” Pontenberg v. Bos. Sci. Corp., 252 F.3d 1253, 1256 n.1 (11th Cir. 2001) (per curiam) (citing Kotzen v. Levine, 678 F.2d 140, 140 n.3 (11th Cir. 1982) (per curiam)). Accordingly, pursuant to the Plaintiff's September 29, 2021 stipulation (Doc. 37), all claims against Defendant Sandra Smith in this action are DISMISSED without prejudice sua sponte under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2).
See Administrative Procedure for Electronic Filing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama (last revised 2/1/2019), § II(C)(4), https://www.alsd.uscourts.gov/sites/alsd/files/AdminPro.pdf (last visited Jan. 11, 2022).
“Rule 41 allows a plaintiff to dismiss all of his claims against a particular defendant...” Klay v. United Healthgroup, Inc., 376 F.3d 1092, 1106 (11th Cir. 2004).
The Plaintiff's December 30, 2021 “Joint Notice of Settlement” (Doc. 48) has been properly signed for the Defendants' counsel. Accordingly, pursuant to that filing, all claims against the remaining Defendants in this action, Smith's Prehaul, Inc. and Benjamin Chad Smith, are DISMISSED with prejudice sua sponte under Rule 41(a)(2), subject to the right of any party to file a motion to reinstate this action against Smith's Prehaul, Inc. and/or Benjamin Chad Smith within 30 days from the date of entry of this order should the settlement agreement not be finalized.
As such, all other pending deadlines and settings are CANCELED. The parties shall bear their own costs unless otherwise agreed.
DONE and ORDERED