United States of America v. 0.19 Acre of Land, More or Less, Situate in Logan County, State of West Virginia et al

Filing 31

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER directing that 2:13-cv-17685 and 2:14-cv-17688 are consolidated for all further pretrial proceedings and trial; the.64 Acre of Land case is designated as the lead case; all further filings shall be captioned and docketed in that case; directing that the United States be given leave to file a dispositive motion no later than 3/23/2015, serving a copy thereof on each of the potential interested parties; the pretrial conference is scheduled for 4/3/2015 at 3:00 p.m.; directing the United States to send forthwith a copy of this memorandum opinion and order to the potential interested parties. Signed by Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. on 3/11/2015. (cc: attys; any unrepresented parties) (tmh)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
AT CHARLESTON
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Plaintiff,
v.

Civil Action No. 2:14-17685

0.64 ACRE OF LAND, MORE OR LESS,
SITUATE IN LOGAN COUNTY,
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA, and
W. P. HENRITZE,
Defendants
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Plaintiff,
v.

Civil Action No. 2:14-17688

0.19 ACRE OF LAND, MORE OR LESS,
SITUATE IN LOGAN COUNTY,
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA, and
W. P. HENRITZE,
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Pending is the United States’ motion to consolidate,
filed February 9, 2015.
The above-styled condemnation actions involve
substantially similar potential claimants.

For that reason, the

court on February 5, 2015, requested a report from the United

States respecting the suitability of consolidating the actions
for pretrial proceedings and trial.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a) provides as
follows:
(a) Consolidation. If actions before the court involve
a common question of law or fact, the court may:
(1) join for hearing or trial any or all matters
at issue in the actions;
(2) consolidate the actions; or
(3) issue any other orders to avoid unnecessary
cost or delay.
Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 42(a).
Our court of appeals has given district courts a wide
berth on questions arising under Rule 42(a), recognizing the
superiority of the trial court in determining how best to
structure similar pieces of litigation.

See A/S J. Ludwig

Mowinckles Rederi v. Tidewater Const. Co., 559 F.2d 928, 933
(4th Cir. 1977).

Nevertheless, the court of appeals has also

provided guidelines for district courts engaging in the
discretionary exercise.

See Arnold v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc.,

681 F.2d 186, 193 (4th Cir. 1982):
The critical question for the district court in the
final analysis was whether the specific risks of
prejudice and possible confusion were overborne by the
risk of inconsistent adjudications of common factual
and legal issues, the burden on parties, witnesses and

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available judicial resources posed by multiple
lawsuits, the length of time required to conclude
multiple suits as against a single one, and the
relative expense to all concerned of the single trial,
multiple trial alternatives.
Id. at 193.
While no prejudice appears to arise by consolidation,
the length of time required to resolve each of these actions
separately militates strongly in favor of consolidation.

The

court, accordingly, ORDERS the above-styled civil actions be,
and they hereby are, consolidated for all further pretrial
proceedings and trial.
as the lead case.

All further filings shall be captioned and

docketed in that case.
1.

The .64 Acre of Land case is designated

It is further ORDERED as follows:

That the United States be, and hereby is, given leave
to file a dispositive motion no later than March 23,
2015, serving a copy thereof on each of the potential
interested parties;

2.

That the pretrial conference in this matter be, and
hereby is, scheduled for April 3, 2015, at 3:00 p.m.;
and

3.

That the United States be, and hereby is, directed to
send forthwith a copy of this memorandum opinion and
order to the potential interested parties;

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The Clerk is requested to transmit this memorandum
opinion and order to all counsel of record and to any
unrepresented parties.
DATED: March 11, 2015

John T. Copenhaver, Jr.
United States District Judge

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