Diaz v. Sheppard

• Decision Date: 25 June 1996
• Docket Number: No. 94-3308,94-3308
• Citation: 85 F.3d 1502
• Parties: Enrique DIAZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William J. SHEPPARD, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1502

85 F.3d 1502

Enrique DIAZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William J. SHEPPARD, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 94-3308.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

June 25, 1996.

Todd Pittenger, John A. Reed, Jr., Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, PA, Orlando, FL, for appellant.

William J. Sheppard, Jacksonville, FL, pro se.

D. Gray Thomas, Elizabeth White, Jacksonville, FL, for appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before EDMONDSON and DUBINA, Circuit Judges, and LOGAN ^*, Senior Circuit Judge.

EDMONDSON, Circuit Judge:

This appeal is about a lawyer's professional responsibility and about federal jurisdiction. Plaintiff Enrique Diaz, a Florida prisoner, appeals the district court's denial of his motion for remand to state court and dismissal of his case for failure to state a claim. Because the federal court lacked jurisdiction to hear this case, we reverse and remand with instructions to the district court to remand this case to state court.

Background

For the facts we look to the complaint's allegations. Diaz was a member of the class in a class action suit filed by inmates of the Florida Department of Corrections ("DOC") in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida challenging the DOC's physical and mental health care delivery system. The case was known as Celestineo and Costello v. Singletary, 147 F.R.D. 258 (M.D.Fla.1993) ("Costello "). The class was represented by Defendant William Sheppard. ¹

In 1984, the Costello court ordered a committee of doctors and experts to review DOC's health care system. The committee filed an "Interim Medical Team Report" recommending that all DOC inmates receive at least one hour per day of large muscle exercise outside of their cells. Three months later, the DOC decreased the amount of yard time for those on close management ("CM") from four hours to two hours per week.

In 1992, the Costello court issued a notice of proposed stipulated final judgment which proposed closing the case based on findings that the DOC had a constitutionally adequate system of delivering physical and mental health care. The court ordered notification of the proposed judgment to class members and established a time for class members to file comments or objections. Diaz wrote Sheppard a letter "begging" him not to agree to the proposed final judgment because it did not provide for one hour of outdoor exercise per day; nor did it prevent CM inmates from being placed on the Yard Suspension List ("YSL"). Sheppard, however, did not contest the lack of outdoor exercise. After reviewing the objections during a hearing, the district court entered a final judgment closing the Costello case.

In 1994, Diaz sued Sheppard in Florida state court alleging (1) legal malpractice, (2) negligence, and (3) breach of contract. Diaz claims that in agreeing to the stipulated final judgment upholding just two hours per week of CM out-of-cell exercise, Sheppard, in effect, negligently settled too cheaply. Diaz says Sheppard ignored (1) a "large body of case law" that requires prison administrators to provide all CM inmates with at least one hour of out-of-cell exercise per day: a mistake about the legal strength of the prisoners' claim and (2) the opinions in the Costello case of the district court's "own appointed medical experts:" a mistake about the evidentiary strength of the prisoners' claim.

Sheppard's motion to remove Diaz's case to federal court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441, on the ground that the district court had original jurisdiction under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. § 1331, was granted. Sheppard then moved to dismiss Diaz's complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. Diaz moved to remand the case to state court. The district court, stating that Diaz would have to establish the relief he seeks is required by the United States Constitution, denied the motion to remand. The district court then granted Sheppard's motion to dismiss on the ground that class counsel owes no duty to individual class members.

Discussion

Sheppard claims that jurisdiction is proper in the district court because Diaz is attempting to relitigate matters determined in Costello. Sheppard claims that Diaz had the opportunity to object to the proposed final judgment in Costello and that the malpractice action is just an untimely objection to the settlement in Costello. ² In addition, Sheppard says this case arises under federal law because resolution of Diaz's claims necessarily turns on the construction of federal law, that is, the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. See Franchise Tax Board v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust, 463 U.S. 1, 8-10, 103 S.Ct. 2841, 2846, 77 L.Ed.2d 420 (1983).

Diaz says he is seeking not outdoor exercise or declaration of some constitutional right, but only money damages for Sheppard's malpractice. Diaz contends that even if a court must, in deciding a case, interpret federal law, that fact does not necessarily mean the claim is sufficient to confer federal jurisdiction. See generally Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Thompson, 478 U.S. 804, 813-14 & n. 11, 106 S.Ct. 3229, 3234-35 & n. 11, 92 L.Ed.2d 650 (1986). Then Diaz stresses that, to the extent federal law is mentioned in his complaint, it is only to point out a way that Sheppard neglected his legal duty of care (an essential element of Diaz's state law malpractice claim): to establish that the federal law at issue in Costello--exercise requirements under the Eighth Amendment--was settled, was favorable to prisoners like Diaz, and should have been known by Sheppard.

Diaz basically argues that no interpretation of federal law is necessary to adjudicate his state law claims: the fundamental legal standards are substantially undisputed. He says that, in the light of well-settled federal case law, Sheppard ignored the Costello court's appointed experts who recommended one hour of exercise per day. Briefly stated, Diaz charges that Sheppard unreasonably underestimated the strength of the prisoners' case and, as a result, stipulated to a judgment that was too unfavorable.

On a motion to remand, the removing party bears the burden of establishing jurisdiction. See Tapscott v. MS Dealer Serv. Corp., 77 F.3d 1353, 1356 (11th Cir.1996). The removal statute should be construed narrowly with doubt construed against removal. See Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp. v. Sheets, 313 U.S. 100, 107-09, 61 S.Ct. 868, 872, 85 L.Ed. 1214 (1941). We look at the complaint. As a general rule, a case arises under federal law only if it is federal law that creates the cause of action. See Franchise Tax Board, 463 U.S. at 8-10, 103 S.Ct. at 2846. The case, however, may arise under federal law "if a well-pleaded complaint established that [the] right to relief under state law requires resolution of a substantial question of federal law in dispute between the parties." Id. at 13, 103 S.Ct. at 2848. But, the "mere presence of a federal issue in a state cause of action does not automatically confer federal-question jurisdiction." Merrell Dow, 478 U.S. at 813, 106 S.Ct. at 3234. See also Moore v. Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. Co., 291 U.S. 205, 212-15, 54 S.Ct. 402, 405-06, 78 L.Ed. 755 (1934) (that part of state statutory scheme requires some analysis of federal law is insufficient to invoke federal jurisdiction). ³

The district court erred in denying Diaz's motion to remand. The nature of Diaz's complaint is that Sheppard is guilty of malpractice, negligence and breach of contract under Florida law. (We do not hint that Diaz's claim has merit or even that he has stated a claim upon which relief can be granted under Florida law). No substantial question of federal law must be answered to determine plaintiff's claims, and federal jurisdiction is lacking. See Ray v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 677 F.2d 818, 825-26 (11th Cir.1982) (holding, pre-Franchise Tax Board, that district court had no federal jurisdiction to hear malpractice case arising from defendant attorney's representation, per appointment by court, of plaintiff in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action).

Whether Sheppard in Costello misread or disregarded federal law in such an unreasonable way so as to constitute legal malpractice in Florida is ultimately a question of state law. In the complaint, the Eighth Amendment is mentioned only to support an element of Diaz's state law claim. Cf. Hill v. Marston, 13 F.3d 1548, 1550 (11th Cir.1994) (complaint alleging violations by defendant lawyer of state securities registration statutes did not arise under federal law for purposes of federal question jurisdiction, even though elements of state law claim included alleged knowledge of, and failure to comply with, federal securities laws); Berg v. Leason, 32 F.3d 422, 426 (9th Cir.1994) (malicious prosecution action does not arise under federal law because one element requires proof that underlying federal action was legally untenable).

If the pertinent Eighth Amendment law was debatable, to decide whether Sheppard's understanding of the applicable law in Costello was within the range of the reasonable will require no precise determination of what the pertinent federal law was in reality; so no substantial question of federal law needs to be decided. If the pertinent Eighth Amendment law truly was clearly settled before the stipulated judgment was entered in Costello, no substantial question of federal law is presented: the question has already been answered. We have no doubt that a state court can, if need be, resolve matters of federal constitutional law to the point necessary to determine whether Sheppard's understanding of the law was unreasonable.

More important, because Diaz contends that Sheppard wrongfully ignored the opinion evidence of the court-appointed experts, the professional responsibility claims in the complaint do not hinge on the substance of the Eighth Amendment (whatever it may be exactly and...