Wall Industries, Inc. v. United States

4 Cl. Ct. 659, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1462
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedMarch 16, 1984
DocketNo. 448-82T
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 4 Cl. Ct. 659 (Wall Industries, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wall Industries, Inc. v. United States, 4 Cl. Ct. 659, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1462 (cc 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

REGINALD W. GIBSON, Judge:

This order addresses defendant’s “Motion for Order Compelling Discovery” filed on February 16, 1984; “Motion for Enlargement of Time” (in which to file its opposition to plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment) filed on February 17,1984; and “Motion to Extend Discovery Period” (to facilitate the service of a subpoena duces tecum) filed on February 21, 1984.1

The petition in this action was filed by plaintiff on September 8, 1982, to recover $339,723 in alleged overpaid corporate income taxes, including interest. Said overpayment allegedly emanates from a net operating loss incurred by plaintiff for its calendar year ending December 31, 1977, which must be carried back to its 1974 taxable year as a net operating loss deduction in the amount of $701,694.

On April 5, 1983, this court issued its standard pretrial order which was subsequently modified by appropriate motions on four separate occasions, the last of which occurred on November 10, 1983. Defendant’s discovery period was extended through January 6, 1984.

On January 6, 1984, defendant served on plaintiff “Interrogatories — Set I” and “Request for Production of Documents.” Thereafter, on January 10, 1984, defendant served a related informal letter request for discovery of essentially the same information from plaintiff’s independent accountant, Arthur Young & Company.

[660]*660It was not until February 8, 1984, that plaintiff filed separate memoranda objecting to defendant’s interrogatories and request for production of documents. On the same date plaintiff also forwarded a letter to defendant, in response to the latter’s letter of January 10,1984, supra, in which it stated, inter alia, that “defendant’s request for production of documents by Arthur Young & Company should be presented directly to Arthur Young & Company.”

In the interim, i.e., between January 6, 1984, and February 8, 1984, plaintiff filed its motion for summary judgment on January 23, 1984. The ultimate conclusion of law framed by said summary judgment motion was that “Wall timely made a valid claim for refund with respect to overpaid income taxes for 1974, resulting from [its] 1977 NOL,” by:

(i) filing a timely and valid formal claim for refund on June 10, 1981, within the two-year rule entitling it to recover the entire amount of its overpayment [§§ 6511(a) and 6511(d)(2)(A) and Rev.Rul. 65-281, 1965-2, C.B. 444]; and
(ii) filing a timely and valid informal claim for refund for 1974 within the original three-year period provided in § 6511(d)(2)(A).

Defendant’s Rule 37(a) motion seeks, in view of plaintiff’s opposition, supra, an appropriate order of this court to compel discovery as follows:

A. Re Interrogatories — Set I: That plaintiff provide responsive answers to each of the twelve (12) questions set forth therein (Rule 33); and
B. Re Request for Production of Documents: That plaintiff also produce for inspection and copying the six (6) categories of documents described therein (Rule 34).

As grounds for subject motion to compel, defendant averred in its pleadings and during oral argument that in view of the contentions in plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, the primary purpose of pursuing the subject discovery is “to support our position that material fact issues prevent the allowance of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment.” In short, defendant simply seeks an opportunity to unearth and marshal any and all operative facts which may form the basis for its contention that genuine issues of material fact obtain with respect to the definitive issue(s) raised by plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment.2

Adversatively, plaintiff strenuously resists defendant’s motion to compel in its opposition memorandum (February 24, 1984), and during oral argument, on the singular and blanket premise that the evidence sought is “irrelevant to the substantive issue[s] before this court; namely, whether plaintiff is entitled to a refund of overpaid taxes.” Plaintiff at no time alleged that it would be substantially or improperly prejudiced by such discovery; that such grant would unnecessarily exacerbate litigation costs; or that it would otherwise constitute an abuse of discretion if this court were to grant defendant’s motion to compel. Moreover, plaintiff has interposed no sustainable privilege.

Against the foregoing background, the threshold issue raised by defendant’s Motion for Order Compelling Discovery is ... whether such an order should issue where plaintiff has subsequently filed a motion for summary judgment, in which it avers that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact,” and defendant’s prime purpose is to marshal operative facts in aid of establishing genuine issues of material fact to be postured in its opposition to plaintiff’s motion.3

[661]*661DISCUSSION

The court’s initial observation is that the evidence sought by defendant’s motion to compel does not relate to any substantive issues in this case. Such evidence focuses only on procedural issues, more particularly the jurisdiction of the Claims Court to decide this case.4 Curiously, plaintiff’s sole objection in its written opposition to the evidence sought by defendant was, nevertheless, that it is “irrelevant to the substantive issue before this court.” And when this court made the foregoing observation to counsel for plaintiff, during oral argument, no creditable argument was proffered by plaintiff to convince the court that the scope of defendant’s discovery is in any way irrelevant to its claimed defense, or is not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

Decisional law construing Rule 37(a)(2), 28 U.S.C. (which is mirrored in Rule 37(a)(2), United States Claims Court) underscores the notion that in a motion to compel discovery thereunder, which is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court,5 the courts are obliged to pay particular attention to the mandate of Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.”6 (Emphasis added.) In interpreting Rule 1 in connection with discovery motions, the United States Supreme Court stated in Herbert v. Lando, 441 U.S. 153, 177, 99 S.Ct. 1635, 1649, 60 L.Ed.2d 115 (1979), that:

... the discovery provisions, like all of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, are subject to the injunction of Rule 1 that they be construed to secure the just ... determination of every action .... With this authority at hand, judges should not hesitate to exercise appropriate control over the discovery process. (Emphasis added.)

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Related

Reliance Insurance v. United States
35 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,760 (Court of Claims, 1989)
Wall Industries, Inc. v. United States
5 Cl. Ct. 485 (Court of Claims, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
4 Cl. Ct. 659, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1462, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wall-industries-inc-v-united-states-cc-1984.