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Monfore v. Phillips

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit · 2015 · Civil Procedure

Civil ProcedurePretrial OrdersRule 16(e)Amendment of Final Pretrial OrderRule 16(e)manifest injusticefinal pretrial orderabuse of discretion

Facts

Mr. Shatwell went to the hospital with neck pain, tests indicated probable throat cancer requiring immediate attention, but through bureaucratic failures he was sent home without being told and later learned the truth too late. In the ensuing negligence suit, the defendants maintained a united position through discovery and in their final pretrial submissions, denying negligence and not designating experts, documents, or jury instructions aimed at blaming one another. Two weeks before trial, some defendants settled, leaving Dr. Phillips to stand trial. Days before jury selection, Dr. Phillips moved to amend the final pretrial order to assert that the settling defendants were negligent and should bear responsibility, but the district court denied the motion.

Issue

Did the district court abuse its discretion under Rule 16(e) by refusing to amend the final pretrial order shortly before trial to allow Dr. Phillips to shift from a unified defense to a blame-the-settling-defendants defense? Relatedly, did the court err in excluding evidence, limiting questioning, and refusing apportionment instructions that depended on that late-added theory?

Rule

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(e), a final pretrial order focused on formulating an impending trial plan may be modified only to prevent manifest injustice. A district court has broad discretion to hold a party to the trial strategy, witnesses, exhibits, issues, and instructions disclosed in the final pretrial order, especially where the proposed amendment concerns matters known earlier, the strategic risks were foreseeable, and allowing the change would prejudice the opposing party or delay trial. A party may not use collateral evidentiary or instructional arguments to circumvent a valid Rule 16(e) ruling.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

In a wrongful-death suit in Tulsa, four medical providers defended together for 18 months and submitted a final pretrial order denying negligence by anyone. One week before trial, three providers settled, and the remaining defendant, Dr. Lena Ortiz, moved to amend the final pretrial order to add a new comparative-fault defense against the settling providers, along with new exhibits and proposed instructions allocating fault to them.

How should the district court most likely rule on Dr. Ortiz's motion?

Explanation. A final pretrial order may be modified only to prevent manifest injustice, and the district court has broad discretion to hold a party to the trial plan disclosed there. The majority reasoned that an eve-of-trial partial settlement in multiparty litigation is foreseeable, not true surprise, and that a defendant who chose a united-front strategy can be held to that deliberate choice when a last-minute shift would prejudice the plaintiff or delay trial. (Derived from Monfore v. Phillips (n.d.).)