Clark v. Milam

152 F.R.D. 66, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17207, 1993 WL 499018
District Court, S.D. West Virginia·Decided December 1, 1993·No. Civ. A. No. 2:92-0935·Published·Cited by 78 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

HADEN, Chief Judge.

Pending are Plaintiffs motion urging this Court to reconsider its August 16, 1993 Order denying as untimely Plaintiffs motion to strike affirmative defenses, and Plaintiffs renewed motion to strike affirmative defenses.

Plaintiff requests the Court strike from Defendants’ pleadings certain affirmative defenses Plaintiff claims are legally insufficient, vague and unintelligible, or otherwise inconsistent with the requirements of Rule 8(e), Fed.R.Civ.P. By Order entered August 16, 1993, the Court denied as untimely Plaintiffs initial motion to strike. Defendants have reasserted their affirmative defenses in response to Plaintiffs amended complaint, and Plaintiff has now renewed its motion to strike certain of those defenses. For reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES the motion to reconsider, and GRANTS in part and DENIES in part Plaintiffs renewed motion to strike affirmative defenses.

[69] Plaintiff, West Virginia State Insurance Commissioner, acting in his capacity as receiver pursuant to W.Va.Code § 33-10-14 (1992), seeks in this action to recover losses suffered by the now insolvent George Washington Life Insurance Company (“GW LIFE”), a West Virginia corporation. Plaintiff alleges GW LIFE’S insolvency resulted from the systematic fraud and breach of fiduciary duties of certain of its officers and directors, and from the professional negligence of certain of its attorneys.

In their answers to Plaintiffs amended complaint, Defendants asserted numerous1 affirmative defenses, including most of those specified in Rule 8(c), Fed.R.Civ.P., along with several others.2 Plaintiff contends failure to strike the defenses he characterizes as insufficient will result in “endless discovery,” cost the parties much money and time litigating the invalid defenses, and detract attention from what it asserts are the “true issues” in the ease. Defendants have resisted the motion, arguing primarily Plaintiffs motion is premature and fails to meet the standard for motions to strike under Rule 12(f).

I.

In its motion to reconsider, Plaintiff correctly notes that by Order entered April 23, 1993, the Court granted an extension of time for filing of Plaintiffs motion to strike affirmative defenses. In that Order, the Court directed the motion to strike be filed “no later than May 14, 1993.” Plaintiff failed to file its motion to strike by that deadline. The motion was instead filed on May 17, 1993.3

Where a filing deadline is specified by the court, papers to be filed must reach the clerk’s office by the deadline date. 2 James Wm. Moore, et al., Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 5.11 (2d ed.1993). When a party mails papers to the clerk’s office, filing is complete when the papers are received by the clerk or placed in the clerk’s post office box. Id.; United States v. Doyle, 854 F.2d 771, 773 (5th Cir.1988); Torras Herreria y Construcciones, S.A. v. M/V Timur Star, 803 F.2d 215, 216 (6th Cir.1986). Papers arriving after a deadline are untimely even if mailed before the deadline. Moore, supra, at ¶ 5.11; Doyle, 854 F.2d at 773 (notice of appeal received by clerk after deadline for appeal was untimely even though mailed two weeks earlier; provision in Rule 5, Fed.R.Civ.P., that service on parties is effective upon mailing does not apply to filing with the district clerk); Torras, 803 F.2d at 216 (motion mailed on deadline date but received by clerk five days later was untimely).

Plaintiff is not entitled to additional time under Rule 6(e), Fed.R.Civ.P., for service by mail. Rule 6(e) applies only where a time period is measured from the date of service by mail, and allows a party so served additional time to respond in order to account for time required for delivery of mail. Mosel v. Hills Dep’t Store Inc., 789 F.2d 251, 253 (3d Cir.1986). Here, there was no time period requiring measurement; the Court did not set forth a “prescribed period” appropriate for computation under Rule 6, but rather ordered Plaintiffs motion be filed, if at all, by a date certain. Plaintiff is not entitled to the benefit of an additional period for mailing.

Plaintiff failed to file the motion to strike within both the 20-day period specified by Rule 12(f), Fed.R.Civ.P., and the extended time period granted by the Court. The motion to strike was therefore out of time. The Court DENIES Plaintiffs motion requesting reconsideration of the August 16,1993 Order.

[70] II.

With leave of Court as required by Rule 15(a), Fed.R.Civ.P., Plaintiff filed an amended complaint on July 29,1993. The amended complaint is substantially identical to Plaintiffs initial complaint as it relates to the original parties, its only significant difference being its addition of two new Defendants. Each of the original Defendants has now filed an answer to Plaintiffs amended complaint, and each has asserted affirmative defenses substantially identical to those raised in defense to the original pleading.

On August 26, 1993, Plaintiff renewed its motion to strike certain of Defendants’ affirmative defenses. Although as set forth previously, Plaintiff filed its original motion to strike out of time, the renewed motion was timely filed within 20 days of Defendants’ answers to the amended complaint, as required by Rule 12(f), Fed.R.Civ.P.

At the outset, the Court notes the standard by which courts judge Rule 12(f) motions imposes a sizable burden on the movant. A motion to strike is a drastic remedy which is disfavored by the courts and infrequently granted. First Financial Sav. Bank v. Am. Bankers Ins. Co., 783 F.Supp. 963, 966 (E.D.N.C.1991); U.S. v. Fairchild Indus. Inc., 766 F.Supp. 405, 408 (D.Md.1991). Before granting a motion to strike, a court must be convinced “there are no questions of fact, that any questions of law are clear and not in dispute, and that under no set of circumstances could the defense succeed.” BA Mortgage & Int’l Realty v. Am. Nat’l Bank, 706 F.Supp. 1364, 1375-76 (N.D.Ill.1989) (quoting Lirtzman v. Spiegel, Inc., 493 F.Supp. 1029, 1031 (N.D.Ill.1980)). It is difficult to establish a defense is clearly insufficient. Spell v. McDaniel, 591 F.Supp. 1090, 1112 (E.D.N.C.1984). Even where “technically appropriate and well-founded,” motions to strike defenses as insufficient are often denied in absence of a showing of prejudice to the moving party. U.S. v. Pretty Prods., Inc., 780 F.Supp. 1488, 1498 (S.D.Ohio 1991); Oppel v. Empire Mut. Ins. Co., 92 F.R.D. 494, 498 (S.D.N.Y.1981); Kingsrow Enter., Inc. v. Metromedia, Inc., 397 F.Supp. 879, 881 (S.D.N.Y.1975).

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Clark v. Milam, 152 F.R.D. 66, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17207, 1993 WL 499018 (S.D.W. Va. 1993).

152 F.R.D. 66 (Clark v. Milam) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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