Sweeney v. Ombres

60 V.I. 438, 2014 WL 93085, 2014 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 5
CourtSupreme Court of The Virgin Islands
DecidedJanuary 10, 2014
DocketS. Ct. Civil No. 2013-0068
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 60 V.I. 438 (Sweeney v. Ombres) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sweeney v. Ombres, 60 V.I. 438, 2014 WL 93085, 2014 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 5 (virginislands 2014).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

(January 10, 2014)

Per Curiam.

This matter comes before the Court pursuant to Appellant Delroy Sweeney’s appeal of the Superior Court’s August 23, [440]*4402013 Order, which dismissed his claims against Appellee S. Richard Ombres. Since the Superior Court erroneously applied a federal procedural rule to the exclusion of a local Virgin Islands statute, we summarily reverse and remand the case to the Superior Court for further proceedings. See V.I.S.Ct. I.O.R 9.4.

I. BACKGROUND

On May 14, 2012, Sweeney sued Ombres, a doctor, for medical malpractice. While Sweeney’s lawsuit remained pending, Ombres died on November 23, 2012. On December 12, 2012, Ombres’s counsel, Wilfredo Geigel, Esq., notified the Superior Court of Ombres’s passing. Thereafter, the matter remained largely dormant until July 29, 2013, when Geigel filed a motion to dismiss Sweeney’s complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25. The motion, consisting of only a single substantive paragraph, cited to no legal authority other than Federal Rule 25, and simply stated that dismissal was mandatory because Sweeney failed to file a motion for substitution of party within 90 days after Geigel’s December 12, 2012 filing. On August 14, 2013, Sweeney opposed the motion on grounds that Geigel’s December 12, 2012 and July 29, 2013 filings were defective because Ombres’s death purportedly terminated his attorney-client relationship with Geigel and rendered Geigel without authority to file those documents.

The Superior Court, in an August 23, 2013 Order, granted the July 29, 2013 motion to dismiss. Without expressly addressing Sweeney’s argument that Geigel’s filings were improperly before it, the Superior Court held that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25 applies to proceedings in the Superior Court by virtue of Superior Court Rule 7, and that dismissal was required since neither party filed a motion for substitution within 90 days after the notice of Ombres’s death. Sweeney timely filed his notice of appeal on August 29, 2013.

[441]*44111. DISCUSSION

We have jurisdiction over this civil appeal pursuant to title 4, section 32(a) of the Virgin Islands Code, which provides that “[t]he Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction over all appeals arising from final judgments, final decrees or final orders of the Superior Court, or as otherwise provided by law.” 4 V.I.C. § 32(a).

“This Court may summarily affirm, reverse, vacate, or otherwise modify a Superior Court decision without full briefing and oral argument ‘if it clearly appears that no substantial question is presented or that subsequent precedent or a change in circumstances warrants such action,’ provided that the parties receive ‘an opportunity to submit argument in support of or in opposition to such disposition. . . .’ ” Mustafa v. Camacho, 59 V.I. 566, 570 (V.I. 2013) (quoting V.I.S.Ct. I.O.P. 9.4). “In other words, ‘[t]o invoke our discretion to grant summary relief, it is sufficient to demonstrate . . . that the basic facts are both uncomplicated and undisputed; and, that the trial court’s ruling rests on a narrow and clear-cut issue of law.’ ” Id. (quoting Oliver T. Carr Mgmt., Inc. v. National Delicatessen, Inc., 397 A.2d 914, 915 (D.C. 1979)). “[T]he granting of summary disposition is not an extraordinary remedy,” but “an essential part of [a] court’s system of case management that allows the court to manage its very large case load.” Id. (quoting Watson v. United States, 73 A.3d 130, 131 (D.C. 2013)). Since all parties to this appeal have filed their merits briefs, this matter is ripe for summary action. See Brown v. Brown, 59 V.I. 583, 587 n.1 (V.I. 2013) (“Because Appellant filed his merits brief... . this Court may take summary action without the need for further notice or briefing.”); V.I.S.CT. I.O.P. 9.4 (“Before taking summary action, the panel will afford the parties an opportunity to submit argument in support of or in opposition to such disposition if briefs on the merits have not already been filed.”).

Upon reviewing the parties’ briefs, we conclude that summary reversal of the August 23, 2013 Order is warranted. While Superior Court Rule 7 provides that “[t]he practice and procedure in the Superior Court shall be governed by the Rules of the Superior Court and, to the extent not inconsistent therewith, by . . . the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,” SUPER. Ct. R. 7, we have repeatedly instructed that Superior Court Rule 7 does not vest litigants or the Superior Court with a license to ignore local Virgin Islands statutes and court rules and replace those [442]*442requirements with federal law. See, e.g., Joseph v. People, 60 V.I. 340, 348 (V.I. 2013); Fuller v. Browne, 59 V.I. 948, 953 (V.I. 2013); Chciuk-Davis v. People, 57 V.I. 317, 324-25 (V.I. 2012); Santiago v. V.I. Housing Auth., 57 V.I. 256, 276 n.11 (V.I. 2012); Terrell v. Coral World, 55 V.I. 580, 590-91 n.12 (V.I. 2011); Blyden v. People, 53 V.I. 637, 659 (V.I. 2010); Corraspe v. People, 53 V.I. 470, 482 (V.I. 2010); Gov’t of the V.I. v. Durant, 49 V.I. 366, 373-74 (V.I. 2008). Thus, in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Local Rules of the District Court should represent rules of last resort rather than first resort, and should be invoked only when a thorough review of applicable Virgin Islands statutes, Superior Court rules, and precedents from this Court reveals the absence of any other procedure. Accord, Preface to the First Gen. Amends to the Rules of the Super. Ct. of the U.S. Virgin Islands (“The [Superior Court rules] are intended to reflect modem conditions and the increased judicial autonomy granted by Congress to the people of the Virgin Islands.”); Pichardo v. V.I. Comm’r of Labor, 613 F.3d 87, 95, 53 V.I. 936 (3d Cir. 2010) (noting that new relationship between federal courts and local Virgin Islands Judiciary will allow the Virgin Islands to “begin developing indigenous jurisprudence” rather than mechanistically following federal practices) (quoting Edwards v. HOVENSA, LLC, 497 F.3d 355, 362 n.3, 49 V.I. 1133 (3d Cir. 2007))).

In this case, a Virgin Islands statute governs substitution of parties in a civil case upon death. The Legislature has decreed that

[n]o action shall abate by the death or disability of a party or by the transfer of any interest therein, if the cause of action survives or continues. In case of the death or disability of a party, the court may at any time within two years thereafter,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Augustin v. Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp.
67 V.I. 488 (Superior Court of The Virgin Islands, 2017)
Wilson v. Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp.
67 V.I. 523 (Superior Court of The Virgin Islands, 2017)
In re Rohn
67 V.I. 764 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2017)
Mills-Williams v. Mapp
67 V.I. 574 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2017)
Pickering v. People
66 V.I. 276 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2017)
LaBast v. Lockheed Martin Corp.
67 V.I. 172 (Superior Court of The Virgin Islands, 2017)
Isaac v. Guardian Insurance Co.
65 V.I. 137 (Superior Court of The Virgin Islands, 2016)
Gerace v. Bentley
65 V.I. 289 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2016)
Fenster v. Dechabert
65 V.I. 20 (Superior Court of The Virgin Islands, 2016)
Cianci v. Chaput
64 V.I. 682 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2016)
People v. Armstrong
64 V.I. 528 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2016)
Antilles School, Inc. v. Lembach
64 V.I. 400 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2016)
People v. Titre
63 V.I. 800 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2015)
Vanterpool v. Government of the Virgin Islands
63 V.I. 563 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2015)
Rennie v. Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corp.
62 V.I. 529 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2015)
Percival v. People
62 V.I. 477 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2015)
Appleton v. Harrigan
61 V.I. 262 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2014)
Bryan v. Fawkes
61 V.I. 201 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2014)
In re Q.G.
60 V.I. 654 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
60 V.I. 438, 2014 WL 93085, 2014 V.I. Supreme LEXIS 5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sweeney-v-ombres-virginislands-2014.