Opinion
Case No. 8:09-cv-1912-T-33TBM, Case No. 8:09-cv-2127-T-33TGW.
June 3, 2010
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court pursuant to Plaintiffs Kearney Construction Company, LLC, Bing Charles W. Kearney, Jr., Brian W. Seeger, and Alan G. Payne's Unopposed Motion to Transfer and Consolidate Cases (Doc. # 24), filed on May 21, 2010. Upon review of the unopposed motion and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42, which governs the consolidation of related matters, this Court consolidates the above-captioned cases for all proceedings, including trial.
Rule 42(a), Fed.R.Civ.P., states: "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." Id.
In Hendrix v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., 776 F.2d 1492 (11th Cir. 1985), the Eleventh Circuit, commenting on the provisions of Rule 42, Fed.R.Civ.P., noted, "This rule is a codification of the trial court's inherent managerial power `to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for counsel, and for litigants.'" Id. at 1495 (citing In re Air Crash Disaster at Fla. Everglades, 549 F.2d 1006, 1012 (5th Cir. 1977)). The Hendrix court further explained, "We have encouraged trial judges to make good use of Rule 42(a) in order to expedite the trial and eliminate unnecessary repetition and confusion." Hendrix, 776 F.2d at 1495.
A trial court's decision to consolidate similar cases is purely discretionary. Id. However, in determining whether to employ the consolidation provisions of Rule 42(a), Fed.R.Civ.P., the trial court must assess:
[w]hether the specific risks of prejudice and possible confusion are overborne by the risk of inconsistent adjudications of common factual and legal issues, the burden on the parties, witnesses and available judicial resources posed by multiple lawsuits, the length of time required to conclude multiple suits against a single one, and the relative expense to all concerned of the single-trial, multiple-trial alternatives.Hendrix, 776 F.2d at 1495.
In consideration of the many commonalities between the aforementioned cases, this Court determines that consolidation for all proceedings is appropriate. The consolidation of these cases will eliminate the risk of inconsistent adjudications of common factual and legal issues and inconsistent verdicts after separate trials. Further, consolidation will lessen the burden on the parties, witnesses, and available judicial resources. Further, consolidation will expedite the trial of these cases and eliminate unnecessary repetition and confusion.
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED:
GRANTED. CONSOLIDATE Case 8:09-cv-2127-T-33TGW is administratively closed. within ten days of the date of this Order, re-file
(1) Plaintiffs Kearney Construction Company, LLC, Bing Charles W. Kearney, Jr., Brian W. Seeger, and Alan G. Payne's Unopposed Motion to Transfer and Consolidate Cases (Doc. # 24) is The Clerk is directed to case 8:09-cv-1912-T-33TBM and case 8:09-cv- 2127-T-33TGW for all further proceedings. (2) This action shall proceed under the lead case of 8:09-cv- 1912-T-33TBM, and all future pleadings shall be filed in that case. (3) Counsel may, in the lead case any motions that are currently pending in case 8:09-cv-2127-T-33TGW DONE and ORDERED in Chambers, in Tampa, Florida.