Tidwell v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
- Alex Tse
- 3:23-cv-00776
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Tidwell v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Judge Tse declined to consider Tidwell’s motion to compel because his appeal generally removed the court’s jurisdiction.
The ruling affected plaintiff Edward C. Tidwell’s request to compel Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and the other defendants to produce documents while his appeal was pending.
What happened
In Tidwell v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, the court had already dismissed the case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and Tidwell had appealed that decision.
After filing the appeal, Tidwell asked the district court to require the defendants to produce documents, including their agreement with their attorneys. He filed the request using a Ninth Circuit form and caption.
The court declined to consider the motion because filing an appeal generally removes the trial court’s authority over the matter. Judge Tse directed the clerk to remove the motion from the court’s calendar and docketing system.
The detailed version
- Tidwell v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. · No. 3:23-cv-00776
- Alex Tse
- June 2, 2023
Background
On May 10, 2023, the court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. On May 15, 2023, Tidwell filed a notice of appeal.
On May 30, 2023, Tidwell filed a motion to compel, asking the defendants to produce certain documents, including “the retainer agreement” between the defendants and their attorneys. Although he filed the motion in the district court, he used Form 27, a form used by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and captioned the motion as being in that appellate court.
Court’s reasoning
The court explained that filing a notice of appeal generally removes the trial court’s authority to act on the matter. It described this as a court-created rule intended to avoid confusion and wasted resources when the same issue is before two courts at the same time.
Ruling
The court declined to consider Tidwell’s motion to compel. It ordered the clerk to remove the motion from the court’s calendar and remove the corresponding gavel symbol from the court’s electronic docketing system. Judge Alex G. Tse signed the order.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.