Feingold v. Hill

• Decision Date: 11 February 1987
• Citation: 360 Pa.Super. 539,521 A.2d 33
• Parties: Allen L. FEINGOLD, Appellant, v. Louis G. HILL & Ganesh Bala, Joseph M. Hankins & Duane, Morris & Heckscher.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 33

521 A.2d 33

360 Pa.Super. 539

Allen L. FEINGOLD, Appellant, v. Louis G. HILL & Ganesh Bala, Joseph M. Hankins & Duane Morris & Heckscher.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Oct. 16, 1986.

Filed Feb. 11, 1987.

Allen L. Feingold, Philadelphia, in pro per.

David R. Weyl, Ambler, for Hill, appellees.

Stephen M. Feldman, Philadelphia, for Hankins, appellees.

Before CAVANAUGH, BROSKY and MONTEMURO, JJ.

BROSKY, Judge.

This appeal arises from the granting of preliminary objections to a civil complaint. The trial court ordered that appellant's complaint be dismissed with prejudice for failure to state a cause of action. Appellant, Allen L. Feingold, contends that the trial judge erred when he: (1) dismissed the complaint, as the complaint stated a cause of action pursuant to a number of intentional torts; (2) refused appellant's request for leave to amend the complaint; and (3) refused to recuse himself from the case. Finding appellant's arguments to be without merit, we now affirm.

Appellant is an attorney who has been practicing law for approximately twenty years, and continues to so practice in Philadelphia. This action seems to have arisen from a series of encounters with other members of the legal community: namely, the appellees in this matter, who are: (1) the Honorable Louis G. Hill, a trial judge in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas; (2) Ganesh Bala, Esquire, Judge Hill's law clerk; (3) Joseph M. Hankins, Esquire, an attorney practicing in the Philadelphia area; and (4) Duane, Morris & Heckscher, the law firm with which Mr. Hankins practices. Appellant has brought the current suit as the result of three separate lawsuits in which appellant's cause came before Judge Hill.

In the first case, Markey v. Marino, Philadelphia County, November Term, 1981, Number 212, Judge Hill entered a series of orders which were unfavorable to Mr. Feingold and his client, Markey, pursuant to various motions filed by appellee Hankins in his representation of Marino.

Initially, Mr. Hankins filed a motion for sanctions for failure to answer interrogatories, as well as a separate motion to compel the production of records. Both motions were granted, and counsel fees totalling three hundred dollars ($300.00) were imposed against Mr. Feingold's client. Mr. Feingold filed two separate petitions for reconsideration, which Judge Hill denied. Mr. Feingold then filed for permission to appeal the discovery orders to the Superior Court; Judge Hill denied that petition as well.

In the months to follow, Mr. Feingold persisted in obstructive behavior which included: (1) the failure to pay the above counsel fees; (2) the retaliatory filing of two frivolous discovery motions, both of which were denied by Judge Hill; and (3) the failure to post security, pursuant to Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure 1731 and 1735, in a timely fashion, when another appeal to the Superior Court was filed. As a result of the above behavior, an additional six hundred dollars ($600.00) in counsel fees, as well as a fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00), were imposed by Judge Hill, pursuant to Mr. Hankins' request for further sanctions in two separate hearings.

In the second case, Feingold v. Skipwith, 11 Philadelphia Rep. 20 (1984), Mr. Feingold filed four petitions demanding the permanent recusal of the Honorable Alfred DiBona of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, from hearing civil motions ¹ involving either Mr. Feingold or his clients. In support of his petitions, Mr. Feingold cited fifty-one (51) cases in which Mr. Feingold either acted as counsel, or was a party himself, all of which were decided unfavorably to Mr. Feingold at some pre-trial stage by Judge DiBona.

The matter was assigned to Judge Hill for disposition. A hearing was conducted on February 14, 1984. On June 12, 1984, Judge Hill issued a thirty-five (35) page opinion, with an eleven (11) page appendix, thoroughly and conscientiously analyzing all 51 cases cited by Mr. Feingold. Judge Hill failed to find any prejudice on the part of Judge DiBona, and dismissed Mr. Feingold's petitions.

Mr. Feingold responded by filing a petition for the recusal of Judge Hill in a third case, Tareen v. Cohen, which had been assigned to Judge Hill for trial. The petition alleged that the sanctions imposed in the Markey case, and the opinion in the Skipwith matter, demonstrated that Judge Hill was unduly prejudiced in matters involving Mr. Feingold. Judge Hill refused to recuse himself, and the instant action was filed, along with a writ of prohibition to the Superior Court, further demanding Judge Hill's recusal in Tareen in light of the instant suit's likelihood of prejudicing Judge Hill against him. The writ was later withdrawn, but the instant action was maintained.

Following the filing of the instant complaint, preliminary objections were filed by all named defendants. Mr. Feingold then filed a petition, which requested that the motion be transferred to a non-Philadelphia judge for disposition, and the Honorable Melvin G. Levy of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas was appointed by Chief Justice Nix to hear the motion. Argument upon the preliminary objections was scheduled to be heard before Judge Levy and the Honorable Joseph T. Labrum on October 15, 1985. Mr. Feingold requested a continuance of the argument, alleging a previous commitment in the Delaware County Courthouse. Judge Levy denied the request for continuance. When Mr. Feingold appeared at the October 15 argument, he presented an oral motion for the recusal ² of Judge Levy for undue prejudice. In support of his motion, Mr. Feingold cited the denial of the request for continuance of argument, as well as an incident in an unrelated lawsuit which had occurred fourteen months (14) prior, in which Judge Levy had held Mr. Feingold in contempt. Judge Levy refused to recuse himself. Argument upon the preliminary objections then proceeded before Judges Levy and Labrum. By order dated October 16, 1985, Judge Levy sustained the preliminary objections, and dismissed the complaint, with prejudice. This timely appeal followed.

The first issue raised concerns the dismissal of the complaint with prejudice for failure to state a cause of action. The complaint alleges that a number of intentional torts were committed against appellant by the various appellees during the course of events related above. Appellant contends that the factual averments of the complaint were sufficient to state a cause of action pursuant to the various alleged torts, and that the complaint, as such, should not have been dismissed. We disagree, and our reasoning is twofold.

Initially, with respect to two of the appellees, Judge Hill and his law clerk, Ganesh Bala, it is our holding that both men are immune from the current lawsuit pursuant to the doctrine of judicial immunity.

With respect to Judge Hill, the law in Pennsylvania is well established that judges are absolutely immune from liability for damages when performing judicial acts, even if their actions are in error or performed with malice, provided there is not a clear absence of all jurisdiction over the subject matter and person. Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 98 S.Ct. 1099, 1105, 55 L.Ed.2d 331 (1978), reh. denied., 436 U.S. 951, 98 S.Ct. 2862, 56 L.Ed.2d 795 (1978); Praisner v. Stockner, 313 Pa.Super. 332, 459 A.2d 1255, 1261 (1983). This protection is not of recent origin, but has been extended to judicial officers in Pennsylvania since the 1800's. See Hanna v. Slevin, 8 Pa.Super. 509, 510 (1898). The rationale in support of this protection is obvious: if magistrates are to be free to exercise their discretion and apply their understanding of the law to the facts before them, they must be granted such a measure of independence that they are not compelled to respond in damages for mistakes honestly made, provided they have not acted beyond the pale of their authority. See Petition of Dwyer, 486 Pa. 585, 406 A.2d 1355, 1358 (1979); see also McNair's Petition, 324 Pa. 48, 187 A. 498, 502 (1936), quoting Commonwealth v. Cauffiel, 79 Pa.Super. 596, 600-601 (1922).

Clearly, from the factual background given above, the matters which were brought by appellant before Judge Hill were within the jurisdiction of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, and appellant's arguments do not allege otherwise. As such, we only need to consider appellant's allegations that Judge Hill's actions exceeded the boundaries of his judicial authority.

In support of this allegation, the complaint makes repeated references to Judge Hill's animosity and prejudice towards appellant, and cites, as factual demonstration, Judge Hill's unfavorable rulings and imposition of sanctions and fines. These actions were clearly within the scope of Judge Hill's authority; furthermore, as stated previously, malice does not, in and of itself, make judicial behavior actionable. Stump, supra; Praisner, supra.

In fact, the only allegations of the complaint which would take Judge Hill's actions beyond the realm of his authority, if true, relate to his alleged conspiracy with his law clerk to prevent appellant from representing his clients and practicing law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. His only factual support for this allegation, however, is in the form of an exhibit attached to the complaint, consisting of a series of letters and one memorandum, relating to the Tareen case. Apparently, the matter was continued by Judge Hill, despite appellant's erroneous understanding that the matter was specially listed. Judge Hill's law clerk, Mr. Bala, upon hearing that appellant had phoned, returned the call, and attempted to explain the reasons for the continuance. Appellant responded angrily that he had been entitled to earlier notice, and, in followup, wrote a letter of complaint to the President Judge, Edward J. Bradley. Judge Hill sent a reply letter to President Judge Bradley, explaining his position. A...