Zausa v. Zausa
Filing
14
OPINION AND ORDER: The Court GRANTS all parties leave to file a formal motion for attorneys' fees by 1/15/2018; ORDERS plaintiff's counsel to file a notarized affidavit demonstrating service of orders on his client by 12/7/2017; EXTENDS th e deadline for plaintiff's payment of the $400 filing fee to 1/7/2018; and CAUTIONS plaintiff and counsel that failure to pay the filing fee may lead to sanctions, including monetary sanctions and restrictions on filing lawsuits in the future in this district. Signed by Senior Judge James T Moody on 11/30/2017. (jss)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
HAMMOND DIVISION
TERRI L. ZAUSA,
Plaintiff,
v.
JACK ZAUSA,
Defendant.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
No. 2:17 CV 352
OPINION and ORDER
On November 15, 2017, this court dismissed this action because plaintiff and
defendant were both residents of Illinois, preventing the court from exercising diversity
jurisdiction over this case. (DE # 11.) The court noted that a similar case filed by the
same plaintiff (and plaintiff’s counsel) was recently dismissed by Judge Amy St. Eve of
the Northern District of Illinois for the same reason. (Id.) Pursuant to Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 11(c)(3), the court ordered plaintiff’s counsel, Maurice Salem, to show
cause why the court should not order him to pay the attorneys’ fees of Michael Pellin,
the purported “third-party defendant,” in light of Rule 11(b)(1), which prohibits parties
from using litigation to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost
of litigation, and/or Rule 11(b)(2), which requires that claims and other legal
contentions be warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for an
extension of existing law. (Id.)
Counsel for plaintiff filed a response stating, in essence, that he had a different
understanding of diversity jurisdiction. (See DE # 13, “[I]t was my understanding that
as long as the parties with interest are not in the same state, then complete diversity
jurisdiction exists.”) Based on this response, it is still not entirely clear that counsel has
an accurate understanding of diversity jurisdiction. This is surprising, as diversity
jurisdiction is a simple concept taught to every student receiving a legal education in
this country. Further, the concept was explained to counsel in Judge St. Eve’s order
dated August 30, 2017. Zausa v. Pellin, No. 16-CV-11440, 2017 WL 3730816, at *3 (N.D.
Ill. Aug. 30, 2017). It strains credulity to suppose that counsel simply did not
understand this legal concept.
The lack of a credible explanation for the filing of this lawsuit in this district
suggests that counsel may have violated Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)(1), which
prohibits parties from using litigation to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly
increase the cost of litigation. Accordingly, pursuant to Rule 11(c)(4), the court grants all
parties leave to file a formal motion for attorneys’ fees against Maurice Salem under
Rule 11, if they so choose, by January 15, 2018. Timing for filing responses and replies
will be controlled by Local Rule 7-1.
Plaintiff was also ordered to pay the $400 filing fee in this case by November 29,
2017. (DE # 11.) This has not occurred. The court is concerned, based on other litigation
before the undersigned in which counsel has appeared, specifically Iqbal v. Patel, et al.,
2:12-CV-56-JTM (filed February 3, 2012), that counsel may not always keep his clients
apprised of developments in their respective litigation. In other words, plaintiff herself
may not know that she has the burden to pay the $400 filing fee in this case.
2
Accordingly, the court orders plaintiff’s counsel to provide a copy of this order,
as well as the court’s order at DE # 11, to his client. A notarized affidavit regarding
service on his client of the aforementioned orders must be filed on the docket by
December 7, 2017. Failure to abide by this deadline will result in this court issuing an
order for counsel to show cause why he should not be held in contempt; ultimately,
further sanctions, including monetary sanctions, may result. The court extends
plaintiff’s deadline for paying the $400 filing fee to January 7, 2017.
In sum, the court GRANTS all parties leave to file a formal motion for attorneys’
fees by January 15, 2018; ORDERS plaintiff’s counsel to file a notarized affidavit
demonstrating service of orders on his client by December 7, 2017; EXTENDS the
deadline for plaintiff’s payment of the $400 filing fee to January 7, 2018; and
CAUTIONS plaintiff and counsel that failure to pay the filing fee may lead to sanctions,
including monetary sanctions and restrictions on filing lawsuits in the future in this
district.
SO ORDERED.
Date: November 30, 2017
s/James T. Moody
JUDGE JAMES T. MOODY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
3
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?