Cotracom Commodity Trading Co. v. Seaboard Corp.

193 F.R.D. 696, 2000 WL 796142, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8615
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedJune 8, 2000
DocketCivil Action No. 97-2391-GTV
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 193 F.R.D. 696 (Cotracom Commodity Trading Co. v. Seaboard Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cotracom Commodity Trading Co. v. Seaboard Corp., 193 F.R.D. 696, 2000 WL 796142, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8615 (D. Kan. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

RUSHFELT, United States Magistrate Judge.

The Court has under consideration Defendant Seaboard Corporation’s (Seaboard) Motion for Reconsideration of the Magistrate’s Order of October 1, 1999,1 Regarding its Motion to Compel and for Sanctions (doc. 228). Pursuant to D.Kan. Rule 7.3, Seaboard asks the Court to reconsider its previous order on four grounds. Plaintiffs oppose the motion.

Seaboard suggests reconsideration is necessary because the Court allegedly: (1) failed to consider Seaboard’s timely-ffled reply brief; (2) failed to distinguish between two sets of discovery with respect to conference requirements; (3) improperly considered a vacation for counsel for plaintiff; and (4) declined to consider evidence that plaintiffs had violated a previous discovery order of the Court.

Plaintiffs suggest that Seaboard raises no argument, other than the timeliness of its reply brief, which has not'already been extensively briefed by the parties and determined by the Court. It further suggests that the timeliness of the reply brief constitutes no ground for reconsideration.

Although the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for motions for reconsideration, Hatfield v. Board of County Comm’rs, 52 F.3d 858, 861 (10th Cir.1995); Loum v. Houston’s Restaurants, Inc., 177 F.R.D. 670, 671 (D.Kan.1998); the District of Kansas has promulgated a local rule, D.Kan. Rule 7.3(b), which addresses reconsideration of non-dispositive rulings. It is within the sound discretion of the Court to grant or deny a motion for reconsideration. Hancock v. City of Oklahoma City, 857 F.2d 1394, 1395 (10th Cir.1988). “In exercising that discretion, courts in general have recognized three major grounds justifying reconsideration: (1) an intervening change in controlling law; (2) availability of new evidence; and (3) the need to correct clear error or prevent manifest injustice.” Martin v. MARCO Ammonia Pipeline, Inc., 866 F.Supp. 1304, 1308 (D.Kan.1994); see also, D.Kan. Rule 7.3(b). “A motion to reconsider is not a second chance for the losing party to make its strongest case or to dress up arguments that previously failed.” Voelkel v. GMC, 846 F.Supp. 1482, 1483 (D.Kan.), aff'd, 43 F.3d 1484 (10th Cir.1994). Such motions are not appropriate if the movant only wants the Court to revisit issues already addressed or to hear new arguments or supporting facts that could have been presented originally. Van Skiver v. United States, 952 F.2d 1241, 1243 (10th Cir.1991).

Improper use of motions to reconsider “can waste-judicial resources and obstruct the efficient administration of justice.” RTC v. Williams, 165 F.R.D. 639, 642 (D.Kan. 1996) (quoting United States ex rel. Houck v. Folding Carton Admin. Comm., 121 F.R.D. 69, 71 (N.D.Ill.1988)). A proper motion to reconsider, on the other hand, “gives the court an opportunity to correct manifest errors of law or fact and to review newly discovered evidence.” Dees v. Wilson, 796 F.Supp. 474, 475 (D.Kan.1992). “A motion to reconsider is appropriate when the court has obviously misapprehended a party’s position or the facts or applicable law, or when the party produces new evidence that could not have been obtained through the exercise of due diligence.” Clark v. Homrighous, 136 F.R.D. 186, 188 (D.Kan.1991).

“The party moving for reconsideration has the ‘burden to show that there has been a change of law, that new evidence is available, or that reconsideration is necessary to correct clear error or prevent manifest injustice.’ ” Mackey v. IBP, Inc., No. Civ.A. [698]*69895-2288-GTV, 1996 WL 417513, at *2 (D.Kan. July 22,1996) (quoting International Bhd. of Teamsters, Local 955 v. Sambol Meat Packing Co., No. 92-2338-JWL, unpublished op. at 2 (D.Kan. Sept. 30, 1993)). Seaboard does not allege that the law has changed. It argues that the Court failed to consider evidence presented in supplemental briefing and thus did not consider newly available evidence. Its other arguments, furthermore, raise a question as to whether reconsideration is necessary to correct clear error or prevent manifest injustice.

The Court did not consider the reply brief filed by Seaboard in support of the underlying motion to compel — not because it found the brief untimely, but because it did not find the brief at all. This apparently resulted from a docketing error. The Court received no chambers copy.

The mistaken assumption that Seaboard had filed no reply brief affected the Memorandum and Order of September 30, 1999, to some extent. The Court found that defendant had acquiesced to the factual allegations contained in the response of plaintiffs. (See Mem. & Order of Sept. 30, 1999, doc. 108, at 2, 6, 8, hereinafter Order of September 30, 1999.) It first noted the failure while discussing a contention of plaintiffs that defendant made no serious effort to resolve the dispute without judicial intervention. (See id. at 2.) It applied the law, nevertheless, to the facts presented. (Id.) The Court also noted a suggestion that defendant had made no reasonable effort to resolve objections asserted by plaintiffs against the discovery at issue. (Id. at 6.)

Although the reply brief adds no facts about the efforts to confer, it does explain the failure to make reasonable efforts to resolve the objections. Defendant asserts that it did not address the objections because plaintiffs had stated that they had located no responsive documents. It contends that the response of plaintiffs to the motion for the first time notified defendant that they were withholding documents due to objections. The Court finds this contention by defendant unsupported by the documentation provided to it.

Plaintiffs’ response to the propounded discovery clearly indicates that they objected to the discovery. (See Pls.’ Resp. to Seaboard’s Second Set of Requests for Prod. of Docs., attached as Ex. C to Mem. Supp. Mot. Compel and for Sanctions, doc. 109, hereinafter Mem. Supp.) The raised objections should have alerted counsel to the prospect that plaintiffs were withholding documents. Seaboard attempts to persuade the Court that plaintiffs had abandoned their objections by citing to a letter drafted by their attorney John Massaro. It states:

On the issue of our documents, as I mentioned on the phone, consistent with the terms of our written response to your request, I will provide you with any documents that are located and provided to me as expeditiously as possible. At present, we are continuing to search for any responsive documents that may exist; my understanding is none have been located yet.

(Letter from Massaro to Rebein of 11/6/98, attached as Ex. D2 to Mem. Supp.) They further cite to another letter from counsel, wherein Steven Sacks states: “You will get your documents to the extent they exist.” (Letter from Sacks to Rebein of 11/17/98, attached as Ex. D4 to Mem Supp.)

The Court does not interpret the correspondence as abandonment of objections.

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Bluebook (online)
193 F.R.D. 696, 2000 WL 796142, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8615, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cotracom-commodity-trading-co-v-seaboard-corp-ksd-2000.