Fleet Bank of Maine v. Dumont

CourtSuperior Court of Maine
DecidedJune 22, 2000
DocketKENcv-92-109
StatusUnpublished

This text of Fleet Bank of Maine v. Dumont (Fleet Bank of Maine v. Dumont) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fleet Bank of Maine v. Dumont, (Me. Super. Ct. 2000).

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT

CIVIL ACTION KENNEBEC, ss. DOCKET NO. CV-92-109 yp °

FLEET BANK OF MAINE,

Plaintiff

V. ORDER

CLIFFORD DUMONT, et ai,

Defendants I. Introduction.

This litigation, now more than nine years old, is based on Fleet Bank's claim that Clifford A. Dumont fraudulently transferred assets to his sons and others, also named as defendants, in order to avoid satisfying a deficiency judgment which Fleet had secured against him after foreclosure. As this passage of lime suggests, the course of this case has been lengthy and the motions now presented altempt to affect it further. They are: Defendant Clifford A. Dumont's Motion for Leave to Amend; Plaintiff Fleet Bank's Motion to Dismiss or Motion for Summary Judgment; Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment; Defendant's Motion for Leave to File Demand for Jury Trial; and Defendants’ Motion for Enlargement of Time (to object to Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss or Motion for Summary Judgment).

This order will endeavor to dispose of these motions as filed.

II. Defendants' Motion for Leave to Amend.

By this motion, defendant Clifford A. Dumont seeks to amend his answer, filed on June 19, 1992, by alleging nine grievances against the plaintiff, including, inter alia, breach of contract, defamation, abuse of process, fraud, and fraudulent conversion.

Others, as expressed in the motion, do not articulate a recognizable cause of action in the context of a counterclaim, e.g., "Fleet failed to attend depositions as requested by subpoena." These, of course, would be subject to a motion to dismiss so should not be permitted as amendments to the defendants’ answer. Glynn v. City of South Portland, 640 A.2d 1065, 1067 (Me. 1994).

The balance of the claims the defendant wishes to allege in a counterclaim may be so plead, even if late, if he can establish his failure to act was due to “oversight, inadvertence or excusable neglect, or when justice so requires.” M.R. Civ. P. 13(f). Leave for an amendment to pleadings is to “be freely given when justice so requires." MLR. Civ. P. 15(a). However, "when the court is presented with a motion to amend with no facts indicating what the amendment would entail, the court has no choice but to deny the motion to amend." Bahre v. Liberty Group, Intc., 2000 ME 75, Uf 11, 750 A.2d 558, 561. Because the defendant has provided the court with no factual bases on which these new aversions might rest, it is required to follow the precedent which Bahre provides and deny the motion. Moreover, while a motion to amend is to be freely granted, M.R. Civ P. 15(a), unexplained delay in bringing the motion -- here, nine years -- removes any presumption in favor of allowing amendment. Diversified Foods, Inc. v. First Nat'l Bank of Boston, 605 A.2d 609, 616 (Me. 1992).

Other reasons support the action which the court must take on this motion. First among these is that the statute of limitations has expired as to all of these causes of action. 14 M.R.S.A. §§ 752, 753. Second, the plaintiff has failed to filea memorandum of law in support of the motion as MLR. Civ. P. 7(b)(3) requires. This is no small oversight as without it, the court is deprived of any reasons in law to act favorably on this

request. III. Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss or Motion for Summary Judgment.

This motion seeks final disposition of this case which, according to plaintiff's counsel at oral argument, the plaintiff prefers to be in the form of a dismissal without prejudice pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 41(a}(2). The reason expressed for this preference is simply that the plaintiff has had enough of this litigation and simply wants its conclusion, notwithstanding its claimed merit. For his part, defendant Clifford A. Dumont objects and asks the court to dismiss the case with prejudice if it is to dismiss the matter at all.

The court can find no case law to guide its exercise of discretion in acting on the plaintiff's request. However, the court finds the plaintiff's preference for a dismissal without prejudice to be genuinely based on a desire to terminate this litigation without further altercations. From the court's previous exposure to this case, it is apparent that the plaintiff's case was not a frivolous or meritless exercise but that the cost and length of this case simply outweighs any benefit that may be derived by its further pursuit. Moreover, given the history of protracted antagonism between these parties,’ the plaintiff is justifiably concerned that a dismissal with prejudice would invite yet another round of litigation in the form of a malicious prosecution action brought by the defendants because such a disposition may be interpreted as one favorable to the defendants. Palmer Development Corp. v. Gordon, 1999 ME 22, Y 4, 723 A.2d 881, 883. Moreover, a dismissal without prejudice would be, in fact, an end to this matter as the plaintiff would be barred by the statute of limitations from recommencing this action.

14 M_RS.A. § 752.

1 For a history of the litigation between the parties, see Objection of Plaintiff Fleet Bank of Maine to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss filed January 3, 2000. From this, it appears that a dismissal of this case without prejudice is an appropriate disposition of this litigation so that the court will grant this relief. That being so, the court, as the plaintiff has suggested, need not act on the alternative request for summary judgment.

IV. Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment.

By this motion, defendant Clifford A. Dumont asks this court to enter judgment in his favor on the plaintiff's complaint. Because this action is to be dismissed, this motion may be denied as moot.

More importantly, it must be remembered that this case concerns Fleet's claim that this defendant and others fraudulently transferred assets to frustrate the bank's efforts to enforce a deficiency judgment. Thus, to defeat this claim in a motion for summary judgment the defendant would have to show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, as set forth in the party's statement of material facts, and that the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law on this claim. MLR. Civ. P. 56(¢). Indispensable to this process, then, is the statement of material facts which must contain a record citation to support each fact asserted. M.R. Civ. P. 56(h)(1). If such a citation is not made, the factual assertion may be ignored and the court has no responsibility to search the record to determine its existence.

The defendant's statement of material facts fails to meet these requirements. Each of the factual claims in this document which relates to the plaintiffs claim of fraudulent transfer is unsupported by any record reference. That being so, they may be ignored and, given the size of this file and the materials contained therein, this court will not engage in a search to find appropriate support for the defendant's contentions.

MLR. Civ. P. 56(h)(4). This failure in the defendants’ pleadings carries with it the failure to demonstrate a genuine issue as to any material fact as to the plaintiff's claim and the defendant's right to a judgment as a matter of law in this case. That being so, not only must the defendants’ motion be denied, the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment may be granted, if it so chose.

Vv. Defendant's Motion for Leave to File Demand for Jury Trial.

By this motion, the defendant asks for a jury trial as to his counterclaim.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Scott Coon v. Robert P. Grenier
867 F.2d 73 (First Circuit, 1989)
Glynn v. City of South Portland
640 A.2d 1065 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1994)
Bahre v. Liberty Group, Inc.
2000 ME 75 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2000)
Burleigh v. Weeks
425 A.2d 623 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1981)
Eaton v. LaFlamme
501 A.2d 428 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1985)
State v. One 1977 Blue Ford Pick-Up Truck
447 A.2d 1226 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1982)
Palmer Development Corp. v. Gordon
1999 ME 22 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1999)
Diversified Foods, Inc. v. First National Bank of Boston
605 A.2d 609 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1992)
West Point-Pepperell, Inc. v. State Tax Assessor
1997 ME 58 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1997)
State v. Mason
408 A.2d 1269 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1979)
State v. Williams
510 A.2d 537 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1986)
Thorne v. Pickering
519 A.2d 718 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Fleet Bank of Maine v. Dumont, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fleet-bank-of-maine-v-dumont-mesuperct-2000.