THK America, Inc. v. NSK Ltd.

157 F.R.D. 651, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5877, 1994 WL 384013
District Court, N.D. Illinois·Decided May 5, 1994·No. 90 C 6049·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

NORGLE, District Judge:

Before the court are objections of defendants NSK Ltd. and NSK Corporation (collectively “NSK”) to the April 11, 1994 order of Magistrate Judge W. Thomas Rosemond, Jr. For the following reasons, the objections are overruled in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

In connection with plaintiff THK America, Inc.’s (“THK”) motion to compel NSK to de-designate confidential “Attorney’s Eyes Only” documents on the basis of NSK’s violation of a protective order entered in this cause and NSK’s motion for separate trial on the willfulness issue, attorneys’ fees were awarded to THK as a form of sanctions against NSK. To determine the amount of fees to be awarded, the court directed THK to submit an application to the Magistrate Judge.

This cause has been referred to Magistrate Judge Rosemond on June 11, 1991 pursuant to Rule 2.41(B) of the Rules of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Since the referral, Magistrate Judge Rosemond has been actively involved in resolving all of the issues contested by the parties and familiarizing with the subject matter of the action as well as the counsel for the respective parties.

[654] The Magistrate Judge reviewed and approved THK’s application for attorneys’ fees.1 As a result, attorneys’ fees in the amount of $96,140.80 were awarded to THE. The Magistrate Judge’s order awarding this sum was entered on April 11, 1994 and the notice of the order was provided to the attorneys of record by mail. Subsequently, dissatisfied with the amount of attorneys’ fees imposed on NSK, NSK filed its objections to the order on April 29, 1994.

DISCUSSION

Pursuant to the relevant Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 72(a) and 6(e), NSK’s April 29, 1994 objections are untimely. Fed. R.Civ.P. 72(a) provides in relevant part that “[wjithin 10 days after being served with a copy of the magistrate judge’s order, a party may serve and file objections to the order; a party may not thereafter assign as error a defect in the magistrate judge’s order to which objection was not timely made.” Rule 6(e) provides that:

Whenever a party has the right or is required to do some act or take some proceedings within a prescribed period after the service of a notice or other paper upon the party and the notice or paper is served upon the party by mail, 3 days shall be added to the prescribed period.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(e).

Applying these rules to the facts of this case, NSK had thirteen days from April 11, 1994 to file timely objections to the Magistrate Judge’s order approving the application and awarding attorneys’ fees. The thirteenth day expired on April 24, 1994. NSK, therefore, had until April 25, 1994 to file timely objections because April 24, 1994 fell on a Sunday. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(a). NSK, however, failed to file its objections until four days after the permitted time period. Thus, NSK’s objections are overruled as untimely.

Further, NSK did not file a timely motion to request an extension of time to file an objection or to file the late objection instanter on April 29, 1994. Moreover, NSK does not even raise the untimeliness issue in its objection. “ ‘Ostrich-like tactic[s] of pretending that potentially ... ’ ” damaging factors or rules do not exist are discouraged. Bo-rowski v. DePuy, Inc., 850 F.2d 297, 305 (7th Cir.1988) (quoting Szabo Food Service v. Canteen Corp., 823 F.2d 1073, 1081 (7th Cir. 1987)).

NSK’s failure to comply with the relevant rules cannot be deemed inadvertent or an oversight. Magistrate Judge Rosemond has routinely included a caveat in his orders that objections to his orders must be filed within ten days pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(a). See THKv. NSK, 151 F.R.D. 625, 635 n. 49 (N.D.I11.1993) (Rosemond, Mag. J.); THK v. NSK, 141 F.R.D. 461, 463 (N.D.I11. 1991) (Rosemond, Mag. J.). Additionally, the subject order entered on April 11, 1994 also includes a footnote which discusses the relevant rules to be followed in order to timely file an objection.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are not window dressings to be viewed, admired but soon to be forgotten once out of sight. Consistent adherence to the Rules facilitates timely judicial administration and allows the parties to rely on the enforceability of rulings by the Magistrate Judge without second guessing as the litigation progresses. Reliance on court orders is necessary to focus on the merits of the case and to minimize the uncertainties inherent in litigation.

In this almost four-year old case where there have been protracted discovery disputes, a flurry of motions and objections, litigation within litigation, hearings within hearings, and motions within motions, compliance with the relevant Rules of Civil Procedure is required of both parties to maintain an orderly progression of the case.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, the objections of NSK are overruled in their entirety. The Magistrate Judge’s order of April 11, 1994 shall stand.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

[655] OPINION AND ORDER ON RECONSIDERATION

Before the court is the motion of defendants NSK Ltd. and NSK Corporation (collectively “NSK”) for reconsideration of the court’s May 5, 1994 order overruling NSK’s objections to the April 11, 1994 order of Magistrate Judge W. Thomas Rosemond, Jr. For the following reasons, the motion is denied.

BACKGROUND

In connection with plaintiff THK America, Inc.’s (“THK”) motion to compel NSK to de-designate confidential “Attorney’s Eyes Only” documents on the basis of NSK’s violation of a protective order entered in this cause and NSK’s motion for separate trial on the willfulness issue, attorneys’ fees were awarded to THK as a form of sanctions against NSK. To determine the amount of fees to be awarded, the court directed THK to submit an application to the Magistrate Judge.

This cause has been referred to Magistrate Judge Rosemond on June 11, 1991 pursuant to Rule 2.41(B) of the Rules of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Since the referral, Magistrate Judge Rosemond has been actively involved in resolving all of the issues contested by the parties and familiarizing himself with the subject matter of the action as well as the counsel for the respective parties.

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THK America, Inc. v. NSK Ltd., 157 F.R.D. 651, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5877, 1994 WL 384013 (N.D. Ill. 1994).

157 F.R.D. 651 (THK America, Inc. v. NSK Ltd.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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