GHSC Associates Ltd. Partnership v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

29 F. App'x 382
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 19, 2002
DocketNo. 00-2619
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 29 F. App'x 382 (GHSC Associates Ltd. Partnership v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
GHSC Associates Ltd. Partnership v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 29 F. App'x 382 (7th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

ORDER

Glen Hollow Partnership, plaintiff, filed a motion with the district court, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b), requesting that the court reconsider its decision granting summary judgment in favor of the defendant, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The district court denied its motion, and the plaintiff appeals. We affirm.

I.

This is the second time this case has made its way to our court. Because the underlying facts of the case are set out in detail in our prior decision, Glen Hollow Partnership v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 189 F.3d 901 (7th Cir.1998) (Glen Hollow I), we recite only those facts necessary to the disposition of this appeal.

[384]*384On October 21, 1991, Glen Hollow Partnership filed a five-count complaint against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., alleging anticipatory breach of a lease agreement as well as other causes of action. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of Wal-Mart on all counts except Glen Hollow’s claim for anticipatory breach of contract. This claim went to trial, and a jury awarded Glen Hollow damages in the amount of $2.2 million dollars. Pursuant to Wal-Mart’s post-trial motion, the district court upheld the jury’s verdict as to liability but vacated the $2.2 million dollar award of damages, granting Wal-Mart a new trial on that particular issue. Glen Hollow, however, filed a timely motion, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e), requesting that the district court reinstate the jury’s verdict on damages. The district court granted the motion, and Wal-Mart appealed the decision to this court. We reversed the district court, and remanded the case for retrial on liability and damages. Glen Hollow I, 139 F.3d at -, 1998 WL 84144, *5. After remand, the parties spent approximately 14 months litigating discovery and other issues. Eventually, they filed cross motions for summary judgment. On February 29, 2000, the district court granted Wal-Mart’s motion for summary judgment and denied Glen Hollow’s motion. On March 30, 2000, exactly 30 days after the entry of judgment, Glen Hollow filed a “Motion to Reconsider” with the district court. The district court denied the motion, and Glen Hollow appeals this decision. We affirm.

II.

As an initial matter, we note that Glen Hollow waived its right to challenge the district court’s February 29, 2000 summary judgment order. Glen Hollow did not file a notice of appeal within 30 days after the order was entered as required under Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(1), nor did it file any motions under Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(4) which could have tolled the time to file a notice of appeal.1 Glen Hollow did eventually file a “Motion to Reconsider,” but it was not filed pursuant to any specific federal rule of civil procedure. Technically, a “Motion to Reconsider” does not exist under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. We have held, however, that a motion challenging the merits of a district court order will automatically be considered as having been filed pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e) or Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b). See, e.g., Mares v. Busby, 34 F.3d 533, 535 (7th Cir.1994). As we noted in United States v. Deutsch, 981 F.2d 299, 300 (7th Cir.1992), “[i]n cases where it is unclear whether a motion challenging a judgment on the merits is made under Rule 59(e) or Rule 60(b),” the date of service will determine how the motion will be treated. Thus, “ ‘[i]f the motion is served within ten days of the rendition of judgment, the motion falls under Rule 59(e); if it is served after that time, it falls under Rule 60(b).’ ” Id. (citation omitted). Because Glen Hollow’s motion to reconsider was served 30 days after the entry of judgment, the district court properly treated the motion as having been filed pursuant to Rule 60(b).

Rule 60(b) permits a district court to relieve a party from a judgment on the grounds of mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, fraud, or “any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b). We review a district court’s denial of a Rule 60(b) motion for an abuse of discretion, [385]*385see, e.g., Castro v. Bd. of Educ. of City of Chicago, 214 F.3d 932, 934 (7th Cir.2000); Nelson v. City Colleges of Chicago, 962 F.2d 754, 755 (7th Cir.1992), and will only-find an abuse of discretion if we determine that “no reasonable person could agree with the district court.” Nelson, 962 F.2d at 755; see also Mares, 34 F.3d at 535. In considering a denial of a Rule 60(b) motion, an appellate court does not have jurisdiction over the merits of the underlying judgment. Browder v. Dir., Dept. of Corr. of Illinois, 434 U.S. 257, 263, 98 S.Ct. 556, 54 L.Ed.2d 521 (1978); Cincinnati Ins. Co. v. Flanders Elec. Motor Serv., Inc., 131 F.3d 625, 628 (7th Cir.1997). The abuse of discretion standard means that we will not “second-guess the decision of a trial judge that is in conformity with established legal principles and, in terms of its application of those principles to the facts of the case, is within the range of options from which one could expect a reasonable trial judge to select.” Cincinnati Insurance, 131 F.3d at 628. Finally, we note that relief under Rule 60(b) is an extraordinary remedy that is to be granted only in exceptional circumstances. See, e.g., Tolano v. N.W. Med. Faculty Found., Inc., 273 F.3d 757, 762 (7th Cir.2001); Manley v. City of Chicago, 236 F.3d 392, 398 (7th Cir.2001).

In denying Glen Hollow’s motion, the district court determined that the motion was procedurally deficient because it was not shaped to the specific grounds for modification or reversal listed in Rule 60(b). The district court did not, however, rest its decision solely on that ground, but instead went to great lengths to address any arguments contained in Glen Hollow’s accompanying brief that could remotely be characterized as falling within the ambit of one of the grounds prescribed by Rule 60(b).

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Bluebook (online)
29 F. App'x 382, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ghsc-associates-ltd-partnership-v-wal-mart-stores-inc-ca7-2002.