Societe Liz, S.A. v. Charles of the Ritz Group, Ltd.

118 F.R.D. 2, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11948, 1987 WL 26620
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedDecember 22, 1987
DocketCiv. A. No. 85-1129
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 118 F.R.D. 2 (Societe Liz, S.A. v. Charles of the Ritz Group, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Societe Liz, S.A. v. Charles of the Ritz Group, Ltd., 118 F.R.D. 2, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11948, 1987 WL 26620 (D.D.C. 1987).

Opinion

CHARLES R. RICHEY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff has moved for leave to amend its complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a), 15(c), 15(d), 20(a) and 21. See Memorandum in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Amend Its Complaint at 1 and Plaintiff’s Reply in Support of Its Motion for Leave to Amend at 43-44. Defendants have vigorously opposed the motion. After careful consideration of the papers in support thereof and in opposition thereto and having heard the parties present their respective positions at a hearing on the motion held December 18,1987, the Court will deny plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to Amend Its Complaint for the reasons set forth below.

To grant the motion for leave to amend and thus grant plaintiff’s request for a continuation of the trial date and enlargement of the period for discovery would not only give plaintiff three opportunities to draft its complaint, but also avoid two previously scheduled pre-trial and trial dates. Thus, a third date would have to be set for both pretrial and trial in late 1988. As the Court stated at a status conference held December 3, 1987, the Courts are simply not in business only for the exclusive benefit of antitrust lawyers to go through endless discovery and complex litigation proce[3]*3dures unless necessary and required, and this is not such a case.

At the outset of this proceeding, the parties complained that this Judge was the fourth judge of this Court before whom they had appeared. As a result thereof and in order to accommodate the parties, the Court promptly appointed a special master and set discovery deadlines and pretrial and trial dates. These deadlines and dates have already been extended once. The latest dates are apparently going to be for naught as well. Therefore, except for the outstanding dispositive motions on which this Court is awaiting the recommendation from the Special Master, which is expected by February 28, 1988, the Court denies plaintiff’s motions to enlarge the period for discovery, to continue the trial date, and for leave to amend its complaint. With respect to the dispositive motions filed by the defendants, the Court is prepared to rule promptly on them as soon as the Court receives the written recommendation from the Special Master on or before February 28, 1988.

II. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff was last given leave to amend its complaint by Order of Judge Parker dated October 11, 1985. That complaint alleges that defendant Charles of the Ritz Group, Ltd. (“Ritz”) engaged in a “compulsory tying arrangement” involving perfume products between March, 1980 and January, 1985. It further complains that Ritz and defendant Philip Manuel Resource Group, Ltd (“PMRG”) engaged in a conspiracy to terminate plaintiff as a distributor of Ritz products. First Amended Complaint 1JU 17-18, 19-21. Plaintiff also alleges that Ritz conspired with several of Ritz’s competitors to terminate plaintiff as a distributor of any and all perfume products as early as January, 1985, some 3k months prior to its motion seeking leave to amend its complaint for a second time. See First Amended Complaint ¶ 22. Some of these co-conspirators are identified, but not named as defendants. First Amended Complaint II23. Although the identities of other co-conspirators apparently were not known to the plaintiff when it filed its motion for leave to amend its complaint on August 30, 1985, plaintiff may well have discovered the identities of these alleged co-conspirators in September, 1985. See First Amended Complaint 111123-25 (Chanel and Carratu International, Ltd., proposed defendants in second amended complaint, identified by plaintiff); Proposed Second Amended Complaint 111148-49. In any event, plaintiff was aware in October, 1985, a full two years prior to the instant motion to amend, of an alleged “massacre” carried out by Ritz and its co-conspirators to drive plaintiff out of business. See Plaintiff’s Reply in Support of Its Motion for Leave to Amend at 43-44.

Plaintiff filed its motion for leave to amend its complaint on October 30, 1987, approximately two years after it had allegedly suffered an “antitrust injury” at the hands of the defendants and their identified and unidentified co-conspirators. The Court is hard-pressed to accept the contention that it has taken the plaintiff this long to identify the alleged co-conspirators who are in fact its suppliers. Furthermore, pri- or to plaintiff’s motion seeking leave to amend its complaint both Ritz and PMRG filed dispositive motions in April and May of 1987. These motions were opposed by plaintiff, and the defendants filed their responses. Finally, the Court notes that the motion for leave to further amend the complaint was filed with the Court within approximately one month of the discovery cut-off deadline in this action. That deadline passed on December 4, 1987.

III. PLAINTIFF’S PROPOSED AMENDED COMPLAINT WOULD ADD A NEW THEORY AND 14 ADDITIONAL DEFENDANTS

The proposed amended complaint seeks several objectives. First, having at various times alleged virtually every type of restraint of trade actionable under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, plaintiff has now settled on the twin theories of group boycott and horizontal market division to fuel its complaint. While the claim of concerted refusal to deal is not new, plaintiff’s allegation of horizontal market division repre[4]*4sents a new theory in the parade of horribles under Section 1 allegedly committed by the defendants. The late addition of a new theory and the resultant delay in resolving this already protracted litigation and prejudice to the defendants that would ensue is an important consideration in the decision to deny plaintiffs motion. See Williamsburg Wax Museum, Inc. v. Historic Figures, Inc., 810 F.2d 243, 247 (D.C.Cir.1987); Stepanischen v. Merchants Despatch Transportation Corp., 722 F.2d 922, 933 (1st Cir.1983); Troxel Manufacturing Co. v. Schwinn Bicycle Co., 489 F.2d 968, 971 (6th Cir.1973); Kennedy v. Josephthal & Co., Inc., 635 F.Supp. 399, 405 n. 1 (D.Mass.1985); McCann v. Frank B. Hall & Co., Inc., 109 F.R.D. 363, 367 (N.D.Ill.1986).

Second, plaintiff seeks to supplement its pleadings under Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(d) by setting forth events and allegations that occurred subsequent to the original complaint. Plaintiff specifically and uniquely points to the so-called “massacre” that occurred more than two years ago in October, 1985 in which Ritz and others terminated supplies of perfume products to the plaintiff. The unexplained delay in pleading these allegations when they were known to plaintiff presents another important consideration in the decision to deny plaintiffs motion. See Williamsburg Wax Museum, supra, 810 F.2d at 247 (When so much time has passed and where movant has had abundant opportunity to raise the issue, denial of motion was fully warranted.); see generally Kirby v. P.R. Mallory & Co., Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
118 F.R.D. 2, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11948, 1987 WL 26620, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/societe-liz-sa-v-charles-of-the-ritz-group-ltd-dcd-1987.