Savino Del Bene U.S.A., Inc. v. International Paper Solutions Co

Background

During a January 11, 2022 conference, the Court granted Mark D. Herman’s unopposed request to withdraw as counsel for International Paper Solutions Co. The Court advised the defendant that, as a corporation, it could not proceed without a lawyer and had to engage new counsel by February 10, 2022. The Court also directed the plaintiff to file a letter by that date explaining proposed next steps, including whether it intended to seek a default judgment if no attorney appeared for the defendant.

Neither party complied with the February 10 deadline. The Court then directed the plaintiff to file the required letter by February 16 and warned that failure to comply could result in dismissal under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. After the plaintiff again failed to comply, the Court ordered the plaintiff to show cause by February 24 why the action should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute or failure to comply with court orders. The plaintiff filed nothing by that deadline. The opinion also notes that the parties had failed to comply with several earlier court orders.

Court’s reasoning

Rule 41(b) permits a court to dismiss an action when the plaintiff fails to prosecute the case or fails to comply with a court order. The Court explained that a district court has authority to dismiss a plaintiff’s case on its own for failure to prosecute. The Court found that the plaintiff failed to comply with the January 11, February 11, and February 17, 2022 orders, despite receiving notice that noncompliance could result in dismissal.

Disposition

Judge John P. Cronan dismissed the action without prejudice under Rule 41(b) for failure to prosecute and failure to comply with the Court’s orders. The Court ruled that any pending motions were moot, canceled all conferences, and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.