Margaret Jallali v. USA Funds , 573 F. App'x 915 ( 2014 )

Case: 13-14807 Date Filed: 09/02/2014 Page: 1 of 4
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 13-14807
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 0:11-cv-62510-RNS
MARGARET JALLALI,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
USA FUNDS,
WEST ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC.,
SUN HEALTHCARE GROUP,
Defendants-Appellees.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
________________________
(September 2, 2014)
Before TJOFLAT, JORDAN and BLACK, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
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Margaret Jallali, proceeding pro se, appeals (1) the district court’s denial of
her post-judgment motion to recuse the district court judge under 28 U.S.C. § 455
and (2) the denial of her motion for relief from final judgment under Federal Rule
of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1). Upon review, 1 we reject Jallali’s arguments on both
counts and affirm.
Dealing first with Jallali’s motion for recusal, 2 we conclude that the motion
was both untimely and meritless. Although § 455 does not include an explicit
timeliness requirement, a motion to disqualify a judge must nonetheless be “filed
within a reasonable time after the grounds for the motion are ascertained.”
Summers v. Singletary, 119 F.3d 917, 921 (11th Cir. 1997). Jallali did not file her
motion for recusal until eight months after the first order she argues evinced bias or
prejudice. Under the circumstances, this was an unreasonable delay. See id.
(“Certainly, where the facts are known before a legal proceeding is held, waiting to
file such a motion until the court has ruled against a party is untimely.”).
Moreover, the motion was meritless because an objective, fully-informed lay
observer would not entertain significant doubt about the judge’s impartiality. See
1
We review a district court judge’s denial of a motion for recusal for abuse of discretion.
In re Walker, 532 F.3d 1304, 1308 (11th Cir. 2008). Likewise, “a district court’s order under
Rule 60(b) is reviewable only for abuse of discretion.” Am. Bankers Ins. Co. of Fla. v. Nw. Nat’l
Ins. Co., 198 F.3d 1332, 1338 (11th Cir. 1999).
2
We reject Appellees’ contention that we lack jurisdiction over the order denying
Jallali’s motion for recusal. That post-judgment order is final in that it disposed of all the issues
raised in the motion that gave rise to the post-judgment proceeding. See 28 U.S.C. § 1291;
Mayer v. Wall St. Equity Grp., Inc., 672 F.3d 1222, 1224 (11th Cir. 2012).
2
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In re Walker, 532 F.3d 1304, 1308 (11th Cir. 2008). The orders, language, and
conduct Jallali complains of are the district court’s descriptions of and attempts to
address Jallali’s and her counsel’s misconduct in the proceedings before it. Were
such actions sufficient to establish the pervasive bias and prejudice necessary to
obtain recusal based on bias not stemming from extrajudicial sources, see id. at
1311, district judges would be powerless to address misconduct without subjecting
themselves to recusal. Instead, the general rule is that “judicial remarks . . . that
are critical or disapproving of, or even hostile to, counsel, the parties, or their
cases, ordinarily do not support a bias or partiality challenge.” Liteky v. United
States, 510 U.S. 540, 555 (1994). Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its
discretion by denying Jallali’s motion to recuse.
Turning to Jallali’s motion under Rule 60(b), 3 Jallali argues the district court
should have granted relief from its order dismissing her complaint with prejudice
because that order was based on the erroneous conclusion that Jallali had violated
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 by improperly filing an amended complaint.
Again, Jallali’s argument is meritless. Even assuming the district court incorrectly
determined that she violated Rule 15 and that this error was of the sort
contemplated by Rule 60(b), see Carter v. United States, 780 F.2d 925, 928 (11th
3
We reject Appellees’ argument that we lack jurisdiction over the order denying Jallali’s
Rule 60(b) motion. Though “narrow in scope,” “[a]n order granting or denying relief under Rule
60(b) is final and appealable.” Am. Bankers, 198 F.3d at 1338.
3
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Cir. 1986) (explaining that Rule 60(b) allows trial judges to correct “obvious
errors” (internal quotation marks omitted)), the district court specifically explained
that the Rule 15 violation was merely one of a litany of abuses that warranted its
dismissal of Jallali’s complaint. Consequently, even if Jallali’s were correct that
she did not violate Rule 15, this would not justify relief under Rule 60(b) because
the district court would have ruled—and would have been justified in ruling—the
same way. The district court therefore did not abuse its discretion in denying
Jallali’s Rule 60(b) motion.4
AFFIRMED.
4
We do not consider Jallali’s arguments as to the judgment and prejudgment sanction
orders that were not designated in the notice of appeal, as we lack jurisdiction to do so. See
Rinaldo v. Corbett, 256 F.3d 1276, 1278 (11th Cir. 2001) (explaining that in a civil case a timely
notice of appeal is a jurisdictional requirement).
4