Myers v. Adam's Smokehouse, LLC

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION

ROBERT GLEN MYERS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 4:25-cv-00860-MTS ) ADAM’S SMOKEHOUSE, LLC, ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER Yesterday, the Court granted Defendant Adam’s Smokehouse, LLC’s unopposed Motion to Dismiss because it agreed with Defendant that Plaintiff’s Complaint failed to establish his standing to bring this action. Plaintiff then moved for reconsideration of the dismissal, asking that the Court “instead dismiss this claim without prejudice.” Doc. [13] ¶ 9. Plaintiff points out that it was his Counsel’s error for failing to oppose the Motion, and that Plaintiff was “not at fault.” Id. Though “[i]t is a well-established principle in this Circuit that a party may be held responsible for the actions of its counsel,” Nick v. Morgan’s Foods, Inc., 270 F.3d 590, 596 (8th Cir. 2001) (citing Boogaerts v. Bank of Bradley, 961 F.2d 765, 768 (8th Cir.1992) (“A litigant chooses counsel at his peril.”)), fortunately for Plaintiff, the relief he requests in his Motion for Reconsideration is unnecessary. The Court dismissed this action for Plaintiff’s lack of standing based on Defendant’s facial attack. See Prairie Rivers Network v. Dynegy Midwest Generation, LLC, 2 F.4th 1002, 1007 (7th Cir. 2021) (discussing facial versus factual attacks on standing). Thus, the dismissal necessarily was without prejudice. See Dalton v. NPC Int’l, Inc., 932 F.3d 693, 696 (8th Cir. 2019); accord White v. Ill. State Police, 15 F.4th 801, 808 (7th Cir. 2021); Hochendoner v. Genzyme Corp., 823 F.3d 724, 736 (Ist Cir. 2016). To the extent there was any uncertainty, the Court now clarifies that the Order of Dismissal entered yesterday operates as a dismissal without prejudice. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b) (providing that a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction operates as a dismissal without prejudice if the order does not indicate otherwise); Gillette v. Territory of Virgin Islands, 563 F. App’x 191, 195 n.3 (3d Cir. 2014) (‘Although the District Court did not specify that its dismissal was without prejudice, a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction is deemed to be without prejudice.”). Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff Robert Glen Myers’s Motion for Reconsideration, Doc. [13], is DENIED. This action remains dismissed without prejudice. Dated this 3rd day of September 2025. |) | oo AUT UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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