Silver v. Queen's Hospital

53 F.R.D. 223, 15 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 812, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12600
CourtDistrict Court, D. Hawaii
DecidedJune 30, 1971
DocketCiv. A. No. 70-3239
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 53 F.R.D. 223 (Silver v. Queen's Hospital) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Hawaii primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Silver v. Queen's Hospital, 53 F.R.D. 223, 15 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 812, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12600 (D. Haw. 1971).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER STRIKING COMPLAINT AND DENYING TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER

BOLDT, Chief Judge, W.D.Wash., sitting by designation.

At the conclusion of oral argument on April 23, 1971, the following matters were presented for determination by the Court: (1) plaintiffs’ application for temporary restraining order; (2) plaintiffs’ demand for three-judge court certification; and (3) defendants’ motion to strike plaintiffs’ Complaint.

Following the argument, additional memoranda were served and filed and extensions of time therefor were granted to both plaintiffs and defendants. Since their final submission, the Court has fully reviewed and considered each of the matters presented for determination.

It is settled in the Ninth Circuit that in cases wherein three-judge cer[225]*225tification is sought under 28 U.S.C. 2281, before determining such certification the single district judge to whom the case is assigned for all trial purposes shall hear and determine a motion to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim or to strike it for gross and inexcusable violation of Fed.R.Civ.P. 8.

“The district judge below had the duty to determine, before requesting a three-judge court, whether appellant’s complaint stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. He found it did not. Hence he was not required to request the Chief Judge of the Circuit to convene a three-judge court. His determination is, of course, subject to review on appeal. That review we have given in this case. We find no error.” Carrigan v. Sunland-Tu-junga Telephone Company, 263 F.2d 568 (9th Cir. 1959), cert. denied, 359 U.S. 975, 79 S.Ct. 893, 3 L.Ed.2d 841 (1959). Also see Wicks v. Southern Pacific Co., 231 F.2d 130 (9th Cir. 1956), cert. denied, Wicks v. Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Emp. So. Pac. Co., 351 U.S. 946, 76 S.Ct. 845, 100 L.Ed. 1471 (1956).

As to striking complaints that do not comply with federal' rules requiring short and plain statements of claim, see Corcoran v. Yorty, 347 F.2d 222 (9th Cir. 1965); Agnew v. Moody, 330 F.2d 868 (9th Cir. 1964), cert. denied, 379 U.S. 867, 85 S.Ct. 137, 13 L.Ed.2d 70; Carrigan v. California State Legislature, 263 F.2d 560 (9th Cir. 1959), cert. denied, 359 U.S. 980, 79 S.Ct. 901, 3 L.Ed.2d 929.

The pertinent portions of Rule 8 are:

“(a) Claims for Relief. A pleading which sets forth a claim for relief, * * * shall contain (1) a short and plain statement of the grounds upon which the court’s jurisdiction depends, * * *
(2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, and (3) a demand for judgment for the relief to which he deems himself entitled. Relief in the alternative or of several different types may be demanded.”

As stated by the Court during argument, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were designed and adopted as an interrelated whole, each particular provision to be applied together with and in the light of all other pertinent provisions. In mandatory language Rule 8 (a) requires that a complaint shall contain brief and clearly stated allegations sufficient to show jurisdiction and to specify the claim or claims for relief asserted in the complaint. Allegations beyond that are redundant and undesirable. To the extent the allegations in a complaint are not briefly and clearly stated or are intermingled with evidentiary, argumentative and other unnecessary allegations, understanding of and procedure based on the essential allegations will be impaired or precluded.

“The amended complaint * * * exceeds the bounds permitted under that rule [Rule 8(a) Fed.R.Civ.P.]. For the most part it represents a confusing and foggy mixture of evidentiary statements, arguments and conclusory matter. If it were permitted to stand, the defendants would be unable to file meaningful answers to much of what is alleged. They would be forced to reply in kind by pleading further prolix matter. The issues would be obscured and remain undefined. This would lead to wasteful and unnecessary pretrial discovery, after which a pretrial judge would at some point face the necessity of requiring the plaintiffs to clarify and redefine their contentions.” Johnson v. Hunger, 266 F.Supp. 590, 591 (S.D.N.Y.1967).

Every plaintiff filing a complaint in a Federal District Court must prepare his complaint in conformity with Fed.R.Civ.Rule 8(a). It is not the function of trial judges to redraft, edit or otherwise conform complaints to the requirements of the cited rule. Gilbert v. [226]*226General Motors Corp., 1 F.R.D. 101 (D.C. N.Y.1940).

Ordinarily, complaints drawn by non-lawyers, however inartfully stated, will be searched to find essential allegations if they can be found. However, when mature and extensively experienced attorneys prepare and file complaints, their work product must reasonably conform to and be judged in the light of rule requirements. All attorneys practicing in Federal courts are required to be fully informed of and have a professional duty to comply with Federal rules of procedure. When attorneys admitted to practice in Federal courts prepare complaints, neither the Court nor opposing counsel should be required to expend time and effort searching through large masses of conclusory, argumentative, evidentiary and other extraneous allegations in order to discover whether the essentials of claims asserted can be found in such a melange. It is the duty and responsibility, especially of experienced counsel, to state those essentials in short, plain and nonredundant allegations. McCoy v. Providence Journal Co., 190 F.2d 760 (1st Cir. 1951), cert. denied, 342 U.S. 894, 72 S.Ct. 200, 96 L.Ed. 669 (1951); International Commodities Corp. v. International Ore & Fertilizer Corp., 30 F.R.D. 58 (S.D.N.Y.1961).

In the present instance, plaintiffs are represented by three lawyers, all of whom have had extensive experience in Federal courts. Each individual attorney had the professional duty to examine the Complaint for compliance with Rule 8(a) before it was filed and before permitting his name to be endorsed thereon as required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 11. Deliberate and inexcusable failure to do so is a breach of professional responsibility. Dodrill v. New York Cent. R. Co., 253 F.Supp. 564 (D.C.Ohio 1966).

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Bluebook (online)
53 F.R.D. 223, 15 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 812, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12600, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/silver-v-queens-hospital-hid-1971.