Morales v. Schofield

174 F.R.D. 253, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10581, 1997 WL 413704
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJuly 19, 1997
DocketNo. CV 95-5054(ADS)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 174 F.R.D. 253 (Morales v. Schofield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morales v. Schofield, 174 F.R.D. 253, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10581, 1997 WL 413704 (E.D.N.Y. 1997).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

This diversity action arises from the claims of the plaintiff, Sonia Morales (“Sonia” or the “plaintiff’), that she sustained personal injuries as a result of an automobile accident caused by the negligence of the defendants. The plaintiff moves pursuant to this Court’s November 2, 199 order for leave to file an amended complaint discontinuing this action against the defendant Isidro Morales (“Isidro”) in order to preserve this Court’s diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. The defendant Timothy Schofield (“Schofield”) moves to dismiss the complaint as to him for lack of personal jurisdiction. The plaintiff opposes Schofield’s motion and moves in the alternative to have this case transferred to the appropriate venue should personal jurisdiction be lacking.

I. Background

Unless otherwise indicated, the following facts are taken from the Complaint. Sonia Morales is a New York resident, as is the defendant Isidro Morales. According to the Complaint, the defendant Timothy Schofield is a resident of Rhode Island. In his motion papers, he states that he no longer resides in Florida. The defendant Premier Car Rental, Inc. (“Premier”) is an Ohio corporation with its principal place of business in Beechwood, Ohio.

On December 31, 1993, the plaintiff was a passenger in a car owned by Premier and being driven by Isidro westbound on Route la near the intersection of Route 1 and Route la in Attleboro, Massachusetts. While traveling near this intersection, the car in which Sonia was a passenger collided with an automobile being driven by Schofield along Route 1. The plaintiff alleges that as a result of the accident, she suffered serious injuries.

Sonia commenced this action by the filing of Summons and Complaint on December 8, 1995. She seeks an award of damages based on the alleged negligence of the defendants. The plaintiff relies on the Court’s diversity of citizenship jurisdiction in bringing this action in the federal district court.

II. Discussion

A. The plaintiffs motion for leave to file an amended complaint 1. The standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a) provides that “leave to amend a complaint shall be freely given when justice so requires.” See Zahra v. Town of Southold, 48 F.3d 674, 685 (2d Cir.1995); Block v. First Blood Associates, 988 F.2d 344, 350 (2d Cir. 1993). Only “undue delay, bad faith, or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party ... [or] futility of the amendment” will serve to prevent an amendment prior to trial. Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 230, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962); accord Zahra, 48 F.3d at 685; Block, 988 F.2d at 350 (“The rule in this Circuit has been to allow a party to amend its pleadings in the absence of a showing by the nonmovant of prejudice or bad faith.”).

In determining what constitutes “prejudice,” court are to consider whether the assertion of the new claim: (1) requires the opponent to expend significant additional resources to conduct discovery and prepare for trial; (2) significantly delays the resolution of the dispute; or (3) prevents the plaintiff from bringing a timely action in another jurisdiction. Block, 988 F.2d at 350 (citing cases). ‘“Mere delay, however, absent a [256]*256showing of bad faith or undue prejudice, does not provide a basis for a district court to deny the right to amend.’” Id., (quoting State Teachers Retirement Bd. v. Fluor Corp., 654 F.2d 843, 856 (2d Cir.1981)).

2. The plaintiff’s motion

Sonia moves for leave to amend the complaint and dismiss her claims with respect to defendant Isidro Morales in order to preserve the Court’s diversity of citizenship jurisdiction. The federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. See U.S. Const, art III. Subject matter jurisdiction may be grounded in diversity of citizenship where the parties are from different states and the amount in controversy is greater than the jurisdictional minimum — at the time this case was filed, $50,000. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1). The diversity requirement mandates complete diversity, namely that none of the plaintiffs be from the same state as any of the defendants. Where a plaintiff and defendant are from the same state, diversity jurisdiction will not exist. See, e.g., Owen Equipment and Erection Co. v. Kroger, 437 U.S. 365, 375, 98 S.Ct. 2396, 2403, 57 L.Ed.2d 274 (1978); Strawbridge v. Curtiss, 7 U.S. (3 Cranch) 267, 267, 2 L.Ed. 435 (1806), overruled on other grounds, 43 U.S. (2 How.) 497, 555, 11 L.Ed. 353 (1844); Doctor’s Assocs., Inc. v. Distajo, 66 F.3d 438, 445 (2d Cir. 1995), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 116 S.Ct. 1352, 134 L.Ed.2d 520 (1996), citing, C.T. Carden v. Arkoma Assocs., 494 U.S. 185, 187, 110 S.Ct. 1015, 1016-17, 108 L.Ed.2d 157 (1990); Curley v. Brignoli, Curley & Roberts Assocs., 915 F.2d 81, 84 (2d Cir.1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 955, 111 S.Ct. 1430, 113 L.Ed.2d 484 (1991).

With respect to dismissal of a litigant, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21 provides that a party to an action may be “dropped or added” to a litigation upon “motion of any party ... at any stage of the action ... on such terms as are just.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 21. Consistent with Rule 21, the Second Circuit’s decision in Samaha v. Presbyterian Hosp., 757 F.2d 529 (2d Cir.1985), addressing dismissal of non-diverse joint tortfeasor, is instructive.

In Samaha, the plaintiff, a New Jersey resident, filed a personal injury suit against a hospital, seven physicians and one nurse. Four of the individual defendants were also from New Jersey, and the defendants moved to dismiss the matter for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. In response to the motion, the plaintiff moved to amend the complaint and drop the New Jersey defendants in order to obtain proper diversity. The district court denied the plaintiffs motion for leave to amend and granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

On appeal, the Second Circuit reversed finding that “ ‘unless it appears that a non-diverse defendant cannot be dropped from an action without prejudice to the remaining defendants, the [Rule 15(a) ] motion should be granted and the failure to do so is an abuse of discretion.’ ” Id. at 531, quoting, Kerr v. Compagnie De Ultramar, 250 F.2d 860, 864 (2d Cir.1958); see also Jaser v. New York Property Ins. Underwriting Ass’n,

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Bluebook (online)
174 F.R.D. 253, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10581, 1997 WL 413704, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morales-v-schofield-nyed-1997.