Opinion
CV415-099
01-05-2017
JAMES T. WRIGHT, Plaintiff, v. LEDELL ELLIS, et al., Defendants.
ORDER
After a year of inactivity, the Court ordered the parties to show cause why this case should not be dismissed under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b) and L.R. 41.1(b). Doc. 8 (entered October 31, 2016). In response the parties notified the Court that they had reached a settlement "and expect a dismissal will be filed" by the end of November, 2016. See docs. 9 & 10. That hasn't happened. Given the announced settlement, however, the Clerk shall ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSE this case without prejudice to the right of any party with standing to reopen it. See, e.g., In re Heritage Southwest Medical Group PA, 464 F. App'x 285, 287 (5th Cir. 2012) ("[A]dministrative closure does not have any effect on the rights of the parties and is simply a docket-management device."). If settlement- enforcement is sought, any party with standing may move to reactivate this case and comply with Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 381-82 (1994) (authorizing courts to retain jurisdiction, upon use of an Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2)-based "settlement-dismissal," to enforce a settlement agreement); Heape v. Flanagan, 2008 WL 2439736 at * 3 (S.D. Ga. June 9, 2008); Eller v. Colvin, CV414-202, doc. 91 (S.D. Ga. Sept. 6, 2016). Alternatively, the parties may elect to take no further action -- they have settled, after all -- in which case this action will simply remain closed.
SO ORDERED, this 5th day of January, 2017.
/s/ _________
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA