Ross Dress for Less, Inc. v. Makarios-Oregon, LLC

39 F.4th 1113
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJuly 8, 2022
Docket21-35106
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 39 F.4th 1113 (Ross Dress for Less, Inc. v. Makarios-Oregon, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ross Dress for Less, Inc. v. Makarios-Oregon, LLC, 39 F.4th 1113 (9th Cir. 2022).

Opinion

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

ROSS DRESS FOR LESS, INC., a No. 21-35106 Delaware corporation, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant- D.C. No. Appellant, 3:14-cv-01971-SI

v.

MAKARIOS-OREGON, LLC, an Oregon limited liability company, Defendant-Counter-Claimant- Appellee,

and

WALKER PLACE, LLC, an Oregon limited liability company; CHARLES W. CALOMARIS; KATHERINE CALOMIRIS TOMPROS; JENNIFER CALOMIRIS, Defendants. 2 ROSS DRESS FOR LESS V. MAKARIOS-OREGON

ROSS DRESS FOR LESS, INC., a No. 21-35132 Delaware corporation, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant- D.C. No. Appellee, 3:14-cv-01971-SI

v. OPINION WALKER PLACE, LLC, an Oregon limited liability company, Defendant,

CHARLES W. CALOMARIS; KATHERINE CALOMIRIS TOMPROS; JENNIFER CALOMIRIS, Defendants-Appellants,

MAKARIOS-OREGON, LLC, an Oregon limited liability company, Defendant-Counter-Claimant- Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Michael H. Simon, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted May 10, 2022 Portland, Oregon

Filed July 8, 2022 ROSS DRESS FOR LESS V. MAKARIOS-OREGON 3

Before: Richard C. Tallman and Morgan Christen, Circuit Judges, and Frederic Block,* District Judge.

Opinion by Judge Christen

SUMMARY**

Jury Trial

The panel affirmed the district court’s ruling granting defendant-appellee Makarios-Oregon, LLC’s motion to withdraw its demand for a jury trial in a diversity action involving the parties’ lease obligations.

Plaintiff Ross Dress for Less, Inc. sued Makarios seeking declaratory relief regarding its end-of-lease obligations in connection with Ross’s lease of the Richmond Building, as to which Makarios had received an assignment of rights and thereafter acted as Ross’s landlord. Makarios filed counterclaims against Ross and demanded a jury trial on its counterclaims. In January 2016, Ross filed a document waiving its right to a jury trial under Fed. R. Civ. P. 38. In November 2018, Makarios moved to withdraw its jury demand. Ross argued it was entitled to rely on Makarios’s request for a jury. Makarios argued that because Ross waived its right to a jury when it entered into the Richmond Building

* The Honorable Frederic Block, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, sitting by designation. ** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. 4 ROSS DRESS FOR LESS V. MAKARIOS-OREGON

lease, Ross could not object to Makarios’s withdrawal of its jury demand or to take advantage of the general rule that parties must consent to a bench trial after a proper jury demand is made. The district court held a four-day Phase II bench trial and entered judgment in favor of Makarios.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 38(d) provides that a proper jury trial demand “may be withdrawn only if the parties consent.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 39 requires trial by jury “on all issues demanded” unless the parties stipulate or the “court, on motion, or on its own, finds that on some or all of those issues there is no federal right to a jury trial.”

Because jurisdiction in the district court was based on diversity of citizenship, Oregon substantive law and federal procedural law governed.

Ross contended that the district court erred by allowing Makarios to unilaterally withdraw its demand for a jury trial because Fed. R. Civ. P. 38(d) and 39(a) required Ross’s consent. Neither party argued that the waiver in Section 13.04 of the lease was unknowing or involuntary, but the parties disagreed on the scope of the provisions. First, applying Oregon law, the panel held that the ordinary meaning of Section 13.04 was clear and it established that Ross waived its right to a jury trial on counterclaims filed by Makarios. The panel affirmed the district court’s ruling as to waiver. Second, the panel rejected Ross’s argument that even if it contractually waived its jury trial right, it was still entitled to rely on Makarios’s jury demand under Rules 38(d) and 39(a). The panel affirmed the district court’s conclusion that Rules 38 and 39 did not apply because Ross had no right to a jury trial by virtue of its waiver in Section 13.04 of its lease. The panel held that typically, the combination of Rules ROSS DRESS FOR LESS V. MAKARIOS-OREGON 5

38(d) and 39(a) prevents a party from unilaterally withdrawing its jury demand, even when no other party has requested a jury trial. Although the right to rely on another party’s jury demand is not unlimited, the exceptions to the Rules did not apply here.

The panel resolved the bulk of the issues on appeal in a concurrently filed memorandum disposition.

COUNSEL

Gregory D. Call (argued) and Tracy E. Reichmuth, Crowell & Moring LLP, San Francisco, California; Joel A. Parker, Rebecca Boyette, and Sara Kobak, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt PC, Portland, Oregon; for Plaintiff-Counter- Defendant-Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Molly K. Honoré (argued), Paul S. Bierly, and Jeffrey M. Edelson, Markowitz Herbold PC, Portland, Oregon, for Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellee/Cross-Appellant. 6 ROSS DRESS FOR LESS V. MAKARIOS-OREGON

OPINION

CHRISTEN, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff-appellant Ross Dress for Less, Inc. appeals the district court’s ruling granting defendant-appellee Makarios- Oregon, LLC’s motion to withdraw its demand for a jury trial. Ross argues the district court erred because Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 38 and 39 generally allow a party to rely on another party’s jury demand without having to file its own demand. Ross further argues that the Rules require that parties consent before the court may conduct a bench trial if a proper jury demand has been made. Because Ross waived its right to a jury trial in its lease with Makarios, we affirm the district court’s ruling.

I

This appeal arises from Ross’s lease of the Richmond Building, a five-story property located at 600 SW Fifth Avenue in Portland, Oregon. The basement, first floor, and second floor of the Richmond Building are connected by concrete slabs to the same floors of the adjacent Failing Building, a twelve-story structure on the National Register of Historic Places. In September 1996, Ross assumed all rights in the leases for the Richmond and Failing Buildings. Ross’s lease for both buildings expired on September 30, 2016. From 1986 to 2017, the Calomiris family owned the Richmond Building. Makarios-Oregon is an entity associated with the Calomiris family. Makarios received an assignment of all rights to the lease of the Richmond Building in 2011, and thereafter acted as Ross’s landlord. ROSS DRESS FOR LESS V. MAKARIOS-OREGON 7

The lease for the Richmond Building was a “triple-net lease,” meaning Ross, as tenant, was responsible for all taxes, insurance, and other expenses related to the building’s operation, maintenance, and repair. Ross paid $34,000 annually in rent for the entirety of its lease. Four provisions of the lease are at the center of the parties’ dispute. Two governed Ross’s end-of-lease obligations: Section 16.01 required Ross to surrender the property “in good order, condition, and repair, except for reasonable wear and tear,” and Section 16.02 required Ross to “make such alterations to the building then erected on the demised premises as . .

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Bluebook (online)
39 F.4th 1113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ross-dress-for-less-inc-v-makarios-oregon-llc-ca9-2022.