Moore et al v. Mossbarger et al

Filing 21

ORDER denying 19 Plaintiffs' Motion to Consolidate the Filing Fees.(Signed by Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt) Parties notified.(lusmith, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
GALVESTON DIVISION
DAVID CASH MOORE, et al,
Plaintiffs,
VS.
JAMES W MOSSBARGER, et al,
Defendants.

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CIVIL ACTION NO. G-10-440

ORDER
Before the Court is the motion of two of the four named plaintiffs in this cause,
requesting that all plaintiffs be allowed to proceed in their different causes of action against the
defendants by filing one filing fee, only. (Doc. # 19). The plaintiffs premise their motion on Rule
20 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which they construe as requiring only one filing fee
when multiple plaintiffs join in the same complaint.
Joinder of parties under Fed.R.Civ.P. 20 is generally encouraged in the interest of judicial
economy, subject to fulfillment of two prerequisites: (1) the persons who join as plaintiffs must
be interested in claims that arise out of the same occurrence; and, all the parties joined must
share in common at least one question of law and fact. See Applewhite v. Reichhold Chemical,
Inc., 677 F.3d 571, 574 (5th Cir. 1995). The court has reviewed the claims of all defendants and
finds that none of the claims arise out of the same occurrence. The trial court retains substantial
discretion to deny joinder in circumstances where joinder might produce jury confusion or undue
delay in resolving a case. See e.g., Thompson v. Boggs, 33 F.3d 847, 858 (7th Cir. 1994)(joinder
denied where the alleged incidents were separated by type and years and the injury claims were
separate and distinct). The plaintiffs’ claims are separate and distinct. Any effort to treat the
claims as one would be utterly confusing, if not impossible, and would cause undue burden on

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the court. As such, the claims shall be treated separately. Plaintiffs’ motion to consolidate the
filing fees is DENIED.
SIGNED at Houston, Texas this 17th day of November, 2010.

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Kenneth M. Hoyt
United States District Judge

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