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D. Minn.Procedural orderFiled Aug. 19, 2021

Laughlin v. Stuart

Judge
Eric Tostrud
Docket
0:19-cv-02547
Court
U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
Pages
2
Civil ProcedureMotion to Dismiss
In one sentence

In Laughlin v. Stuart, Judge Tostrud denied Tessa Villegas’s original dismissal motion as moot after accepting the magistrate judge’s recommendation.

Who this affects

Defendant Tessa Villegas, whose original motion to dismiss was denied as moot; the order did not decide the claims in the case.

What happened

In Laughlin v. Stuart, Tessa Villegas asked the court to dismiss the claims against her in the amended complaint. The plaintiffs later filed a second amended complaint, and Villegas filed another dismissal motion addressing that complaint.

Villegas did not withdraw her original motion. Because the later complaint replaced the amended complaint, Magistrate Judge Tony N. Leung recommended denying the original motion as moot, meaning the court no longer needed to decide it.

No party objected, and Judge Eric C. Tostrud found no clear error. He accepted the recommendation and denied Villegas’s original motion to dismiss as moot.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Laughlin v. Stuart · No. 0:19-cv-02547
Judge
Eric Tostrud
Date
Aug. 19, 2021

Background

Defendant Tessa Villegas initially moved to dismiss all claims against her in the amended complaint. The plaintiffs were later allowed to file a second amended complaint and did so. Villegas then filed a new motion to dismiss the claims in that second amended complaint, but she did not withdraw her original motion.

Recommendation and Review

Magistrate Judge Tony N. Leung issued a Report and Recommendation advising that the original motion be denied as moot. A motion is moot when a later development means the court no longer needs to decide it. No party objected, so the district court reviewed the recommendation for clear error.

Ruling

The court found no clear error, accepted the Report and Recommendation, and denied Villegas’s original motion to dismiss as moot. The order did not decide the underlying claims against Villegas.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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