09-1686 Milam v. Dominick’s Finer Foods, Inc.

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Civil Procedure
Summary judgment

Summary judgment should have been granted on a frivolous lawsuit before trial.

“This case should have been dismissed years ago; its protraction has undoubtedly imposed heavy legal expenses on Dominick’s and the union. In the interest of justice and economy, every effort should be made by the district court from the start of a case to determine its likely merit and guide it to as swift a conclusion as is consistent with doing justice to the parties. In re Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC Mortgage Servicing Litigation, 491 F.3d 638, 648 (7th Cir. 2007); Lowe v. McGraw-Hill Cos., 361 F.3d 335, 338, 340 (7th Cir. 2004); Campania Management Co. v. Rooks, Pitts & Poust, 290 F.3d 843, 851-52 (7th Cir. 2002); Isby v. Clark, 100 F.3d 502, 504 (7th Cir. 1996); Nelson v. Streeter, 16 F.3d 145, 151 (7th Cir. 1994); Warshawsky & Co. v. Arcata National Corp., 552 F.2d 1257, 1265 (7th Cir. 1977); see also Cordoba v. Dillard’s, Inc., 419 F.3d 1169, 1188-89 (11th Cir. 2005); Manual for Complex Litigation §§ 10.1, 11.33 (4th ed. 2004); cf. Mirfasihi v. Fleet Mortgage Corp., 551 F.3d 682, 686-87 (7th Cir. 2008). Recent decisions of the Supreme Court emphasize the importance of prompt dismissal of unmeritorious cases even if they are not frivolous, Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1952 (2009); Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 559-61 (2007)—as the present case, however, was.”

Affirmed.

09-1686 Milam v. Dominick’s Finer Foods, Inc.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Lefkow, J., Posner, J.

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