Selective Insurance Company of South Carolina v. Lawn Etc., LLC

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE DIVISION 3:20-cv-207-RJC-DCK

SELECTIVE INSURANCE COMPANY OF ) SOUTH CAROLINA, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ORDER ) LAWN ETC., LLC, d/b/a CORRECTIVE ) LANDSCAPE SERVICES, ADAM C. ) DUFFY, AND LYDIA DUFFY, ) ) Defendants. ) )

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on a Motion to Dismiss by Defendants Adam C. Duffy and Lydia Duffy (“Duffy Defendants”), (Doc. No. 6); the Duffy Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss or Alternatively to Stay, (Doc. No. 7); the Duffy Defendants’ Memorandum in Support of Both Motions, (Doc. No. 8); the Plaintiff’s Response in Opposition to both motions, (Doc. No. 13); Duffy Defendants’ Reply, (Doc. No. 14); and the Magistrate Judge’s Memorandum and Recommendation (“M&R”), (Doc. No. 15); recommending that this Court deny the Motion to Dismiss without prejudice and grant the Motion to Stay. The parties have not filed objections to the M&R and the time for doing so has expired. Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(2). I. BACKGROUND No party has objected to the Magistrate Judge’s statement of the factual and procedural background of this case. Therefore, the Court adopts the facts as set forth in the M&R. II. STANDARD OF REVIEW A district court may assign dispositive pretrial matters, including motions to dismiss, to a magistrate judge for “proposed findings of fact and recommendations.”

28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) & (B). The Federal Magistrate Act provides that a district court “shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made.” Id. § 636(b)(1)(C); Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b)(3). However, “when objections to strictly legal issues are raised and no factual issues are challenged, de novo review of the record may be dispensed with.” Orpiano v. Johnson, 687 F.2d 44, 47 (4th Cir. 1982). De novo review is also not required “when a party makes general and conclusory objections that do not direct

the court to a specific error in the magistrate’s proposed findings and recommendations.” Id. Similarly, when no objection is filed, “a district court need not conduct a de novo review, but instead must ‘only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation.’” Diamond v. Colonial Life & Acc. Ins. Co., 416 F.3d 310, 315 (4th Cir. 2005) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 72, advisory committee note).

III. DISCUSSION Under Rule 72(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a district court judge shall make a de novo determination of any portion of an M&R to which specific written objection has been made. A party’s failure to make a timely objection is accepted as an agreement with the conclusions of the Magistrate Judge. See Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 149–50 (1985). No objection to the M&R having been filed, and the time for doing so having passed, the parties have waived their right to de novo review of any issue covered in the M&R. Nevertheless, this Court has conducted a full review of the M&R and other documents of record and, having done so, hereby finds that the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge is, in all respects, in accordance with the law and should be approved. Accordingly, the Court ADOPTS the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge as its own. IV. CONCLUSION IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that: 1. The Magistrate Judge’s M&R, (Doc. No. 15), is ADOPTED; 2. Defendants Adam C. Duffy and Lydia Duffy’s Motion to Dismiss, (Doc. No. 6), is DENIED without prejudice; 3. Defendants Adam C. Duffy and Lydia Duffy's Motion to Dismiss or Stay the Action Pending Arbitration, (Doc. No. 7), is GRANTED. This matter shall be stayed pending the ongoing arbitration; and 4. The parties are directed to proceed with arbitration and file a status report by July 15, 2021, and every 90 days thereafter until the arbitration is completed. SO ORDERED.

April 19, 2021

Bate Cr Of Robert J. Conrad, Jr. as United States District Judge ee