Justia Civil Procedure Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals
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The government filed a forfeiture complaint regarding the Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer, an Egyptian mummy cartonnage discovered in 1952 by an archaeologist working for the Egyptian government and registered as government property. The Museum purchased the Mask in 1998 and refused the Egyptian government's repeated requests to return the Mask. The government's notice of appeal included the district court's Order of Dismissal, but the Statement of the Issue section of the government's brief stated that the only issue on appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion in denying a post-dismissal motion for leave to file an amended complaint. The court concluded that the appeal of the Order of Dismissal has been waived, and the court need not be concerned about the truth of the pleaded facts. In this case, the government failed to request leave to amend in the eleven months between the Museum's motion to dismiss and the district court's Order of Dismissal, choosing instead to stand on and defend its original complaint. Therefore, the court concluded that the district court had no reason to question that litigation strategy. Although the government's motion for leave to amend cited both Rule 59(e) and Rule 60(b), the Rule 59(e) motion was untimely. Further, the proper recourse for the government was a direct appeal, not a Rule 60(b) motion. Therefore, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the Rule 60(b) motion. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's procedural ruling. View "United States v. Mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer" on Justia Law

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Plaintiff, guardian ad litem for minor H.T.P., appealed the district court's adverse grant of summary judgment in this products liability case. Plaintiff alleged that Enfamil, an infant formula, was defective or unreasonably dangerous due to C.sak contamination. On appeal, plaintiff argued that the district court abused its discretion in refusing to allow its experts' testimony under Rule 702. The court concluded that the district court abused its discretion in excluding plaintiff's experts where the methodology employed by the experts was scientifically valid, could properly be applied to the facts of the case and was therefore reliable enough to assist the trier of fact. With the expert testimony proposed, plaintiff has created an issue of fact for a jury on the issue of the specific cause of H.T.P.'s C. sak infection and plaintiff was entitled to attempt to prove his claim for products liability under Minnesota law. Accordingly, the court reversed the orders of the district court excluding the testimony of plaintiff's experts, and granting summary judgment and costs in favor of Mead, and remanded for further proceedings. View "Johnson v. Mead Johnson & Co." on Justia Law

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Arnold filed suit against Gander in Missouri state court alleging breach of a commercial lease. Gander initiated removal to federal court three times but the district court remanded to the state court. On appeal, Gander challenged the district court's remand of the misrepresentation claim of intervenor, the City of Arnold, which Gander removed on the eve of trial in state court. The court concluded that the underlying basis for the district court's remand order now under review was its observation that Gander was again attempting to remove part of a state case more than one year after it had been initiated. The court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the district court's remand decision was based on the 28 U.S.C. 1447(c) procedural flaw of untimely removal. View "Arnold Crossroads, L.L.C., et al. v. Gander Mountain Co." on Justia Law

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This appeal is a companion to Baker v. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. The appeal concerns action the district court took while purporting to exercise jurisdiction over that dispute, namely, disqualifying plaintiffs' counsel (Zerger and Mauer). Greenwood sought Zerger and Mauer's disqualification due to a conflict of interest out of the attorneys' former representation of Greenwood and its current representation of plaintiffs. The district court entered the disqualification order based on its inherent need to manage its bar and uphold the rules of professional conduct. The record supported the district court's determination that the two matters were substantially related and there was a conflict of interest. Therefore, although the court concluded that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the merits case, the court concluded that the district court had authority to disqualify counsel and did not abuse its discretion in doing so. View "Zerger & Mauer v. City of Greenwood" on Justia Law

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Plaintiffs, pretrial detainees at a detention center, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against prison guards and the Sheriff, alleging a variety of constitutional violations. The court concluded that the district court correctly denied summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity where the record supported a claim of excessive force in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The record also supported a claim for failure to protect plaintiffs from harm in violation of the Due Process Clause and the district court correctly denied the guards qualified immunity on this claim. Given the fact that the Sheriff was not at the detention center, he could not have used excessive force against plaintiffs, nor could he have an opportunity to intervene to prevent the guards from employing excessive force. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity with respect to the Sheriff. The court affirmed in all other respects. View "Edwards, Jr., et al. v. Byrd, et al." on Justia Law

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Citizens of the City filed suit against the quarry defendants in Missouri state court, asserting various state-law tort claims. The quarry defendants removed to federal district court and the district court issued an injunction prohibiting the citizens from pursuing their claims. The citizens appealed the district court's denial of their motion to remand to state court and its issuance of the injunction. The court concluded that the quarry defendants have not met their burden of establishing the district court's jurisdiction over the citizens' claims. Therefore, removal was improper and the district court erred in denying the motion to remand. Accordingly, the court reversed the denial of the motion to remand; vacated the order enjoining the citizens from pursuing their claims in any forum; and remanded with directions to remand the case to Missouri state court. View "Baker, et al. v. Martin Marietta Materials, et al." on Justia Law

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St. Jude sued its competitor, Medtronic, for tortiously interfering with its business relationship with an employee. After the parties arbitrated their claims, St. Jude then sued the employee's wife (defendant) for related claims. On appeal, St. Jude challenged the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant. Defendant had left her at-will employment with St. Judge to work for Medtronic and her husband's sales at St. Jude dropped significantly. As a preliminary matter, the court concluded that Florida law applied because Florida was the forum that rendered the arbitration judgment. Applying Florida's requirements for res judicata, the court reversed the district court's dismissal of Counts 1, 3, 5, and 6 arising from defendant's acts as a St. Jude employee because they were not barred by res judicata; the court affirmed the district court's dismissal of Counts 2 and 4; and the court remanded for further proceedings. View "St. Jude Medical S.C., Inc. v. Cormier" on Justia Law