Caribbean v. First National Bank
Opinion
USCA1 Opinion
February 2, 1995 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
No. 94-1757
CARIBBEAN WHOLESALES AND SERVICE CORPORATION AND
SUPREME ELECTRONICS DISTRIBUTORS, INC.,
Plaintiffs, Appellants,
v.
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF BOSTON, N.A.,
Defendant, Appellee.
____________________
No. 94-1788
CARIBBEAN WHOLESALES AND SERVICE CORPORATION AND
SUPREME ELECTRONICS DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
Plaintiffs, Appellees,
v.
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF BOSTON, N.A.,
Defendant, Appellant.
____________________
ERRATA SHEET
The per curiam of this court, issued on January 26, 1995, is
amended as follows:
Coversheet, second docket number should read No. 94-1788 in
place of No. 94-1778.
January 26, 1995
[NOT FOR PUBLICATION]
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
____________________
No. 94-1757
CARIBBEAN WHOLESALES AND SERVICE CORPORATION AND
SUPREME ELECTRONICS DISTRIBUTORS, INC.,
Plaintiffs, Appellants,
v.
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF BOSTON, N.A.,
Defendant, Appellee.
____________________
No. 94-1788
CARIBBEAN WHOLESALES AND SERVICE CORPORATION AND
SUPREME ELECTRONICS DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
Plaintiffs, Appellees,
v.
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF BOSTON, N.A.,
Defendant, Appellant.
____________________
APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Jaime Pieras, Jr., Senior U.S. District Judge] __________________________
____________________
Before
Selya, Circuit Judge, _____________
Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge, ____________________
and Stahl, Circuit Judge. _____________
____________________
Hector F. Martinez-Jimenez for Caribbean Wholesales and ___________________________
Services Corporation and Supreme Electronics Distributors, Inc.
Manuel Moreda-Toledo for The First National Bank of Boston, ____________________
N.A.
____________________
____________________
Per Curiam. This was once a potentially complex case ___________
concerning commercial and banking events and practice. Because
of procedural default, it now presents only easily resolved
issues concerning the district court's exercise of discretion.
The plaintiffs, Caribbean Wholesales and Service Corporation
and Supreme Electronics Distributors (Caribbean), a wholesaler of
electronic appliances, alleged that Novedades Guerra (Novedades),
a local retailer, purchased appliances from Caribbean with checks
that were returned by the defendant, the First National Bank of
Boston (FNBB), for lack of sufficient funds. Unable to collect
from Novedades, Caribbean filed this action to collect from FNBB
the sum of the returned checks, plus lost profits and other
damages totalling $3,000,000. The allegations of the complaint
sounded in contract, negligence, breach of fiduciary duties,
unsound banking practices, tortious interference with contractual
opportunities, and, principally, fraud. The essential theme was
that FNBB induced Caribbean to sell appliances on credit to
Novedades upon the representation that FNBB would honor
Novedades' checks, that FNBB reneged on its representation,
failed to monitor Novedades, and caused checks payable to
Caribbean to be dishonored.
The record reveals some 169 docket entries in a three-year
period -- over one a week -- of motions, requests for extensions,
orders, responses, replies to responses, objections, opposition
to objections, notices, and reports. The following crucial
events took place fifteen months after filing of the complaint:
-5-
March 15, 1993 -- FNBB moves for summary judgment.
No opposition is filed within ten days, as Local Rule
311.5 required, nor is any request made for extension
of time.
March 30, 1993 -- At pretrial conference,
plaintiffs request an extension until April 12 to file
an opposition to summary judgment; this is granted.
But no opposition was filed.
March 31, 1993 -- Plaintiffs' counsel moves to
withdraw.
April 7, 1993 -- Plaintiff and counsel have composed
their differences, and request another extension until April
27. This is denied.
April 27, 1993 -- Plaintiffs submit yet another motion
asking for "a ten working day extension" to file their
opposition. This also is denied.
April 28, 1993 -- With only the bank's uncontested
factual submission before him, the magistrate judge
recommends granting the summary judgment motion.
May 13, 1993 -- The district court approves the report
of the magistrate judge. On the same day, plaintiffs file
an opposition to the report, accompanied by a request to
file a second amended complaint and a motion tendering
anticipatory testimony by an expert witness who had been
excluded.
-6-
Following this, the court generously set aside its May 13
judgment, accepted "Plaintiffs' Objection to the Magistrate
Judge's Report and Recommendation," and granted leave to FNBB to
file an opposition.
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