Res-Ga Cobblestone, LLC v. Blake Constr.

• Decision Date: 19 June 2013
• Docket Number: No. 11–14072.,11–14072.
• Citation: 718 F.3d 1308
• Parties: RES–GA COBBLESTONE, LLC, RES–GA Mills Cove, LLC, Plaintiffs–Appellees, v. BLAKE CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT, LLC, Cobblestone at Ivy, LLC, Wellington Lake Estates, LLC, Moustafa Mokhemar, Sease Construction LLC, et al., Defendants, Grady A. Roberts, III, Defendant–Appellant, Roberts Law, LLC, Interested Party–Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

718 F.3d 1308

RES–GA COBBLESTONE, LLC, RES–GA Mills Cove, LLC, Plaintiffs–Appellees,

v. BLAKE CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT, LLC, Cobblestone at Ivy, LLC, Wellington Lake Estates, LLC, Moustafa Mokhemar, Sease Construction LLC, et al., Defendants,Grady A. Roberts, III, Defendant–Appellant,Roberts Law, LLC, Interested Party–Appellant.

No. 11–14072.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

June 19, 2013.

Nathan L. Garroway, Kathleen A. Sacks, McKenna, Long & Aldridge, LLP, Jill D. Prussack, Kevin L. Ward, Schulten, Ward & Turner, LLP, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiffs–Appellees.

James Ward Howard, The Howard Law Firm, Tucker, GA, Grady A. Roberts, III, Roberts Law, LLC, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants–Appellants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before JORDAN and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges, and HORNBY,^* District Judge.

KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge:

Grady A. Roberts, III, and his law firm Roberts, LLC, (collectively Roberts) challenge the district court's orders directing Roberts to pay a $2,000 fine, $57,000 in contempt sanctions, and the appellees' costs and fees to the tune of $55,571.76, along with an order directing that Roberts be incarcerated for civil contempt. After this appeal was briefed, however, the parties signed a consent order in which Roberts agreed to pay some of the fees and sanctions imposed as a result of his conduct in the district court in exchange for relief from the others. The same day, Roberts paid as promised and was released the following day from the remainder of the judgments he appeals. In so doing, we conclude that Roberts mooted his appeal. Therefore, we dismiss this appeal for want of subject matter jurisdiction.

I.

RES–GA Cobblestone, LLC, and RES–GA Mills Cove, LLC, (collectively Cobblestone) sued Roberts and several others in Fulton County Superior Court alleging state-law claims related to property Cobblestone purchased at a foreclosure sale. After a hearing, the state court enjoined Roberts and his state-court co-defendants from coming within 1000 yards of the foreclosed properties. Two and a half weeks later, Cobblestone told the court that Roberts and the others continued to occupy some of the properties and collect rent from tenants, so the state court scheduled a contempt hearing and ordered Roberts to appear. Rather than complying, Roberts removed the case to federal district court that same day. Because the notice of removal was frivolous on its face, however, the district court promptly remanded.¹

The following day, the state court rescheduled the contempt hearing, but Roberts immediately filed yet another frivolous notice of removal to halt the state proceedings. Once again, the district court promptly remanded the case but retained jurisdiction to award Cobblestone its costs and fees because the removal was “not objectively reasonable” and directed Roberts to “show cause in writing how he and his law firm ha[d] not violated Rule 11(b) and why the Court should not impose sanctions.” Cobblestone filed an itemization of its costs and fees, to which Roberts did not object even though the district court expressly gave him leave to do so.² Instead, he filed a new lawsuit in federal court against the state court judge and Cobblestone's lawyer, a copy of which he delivered to them at the third rescheduled state contempt hearing. Agreeing with the state court, the district court found Roberts's conduct “outrageous and unprofessional” and “profoundly disturbing to any person who believes in the rule of law.” On December 2, 2010, the district court dismissed Roberts's newly filed suit, rejected his bald assertion that his actions were mere good-faith mistakes, fined him $2,000 under Rule 11 and the court's inherent power, and ordered him to pay $15,320.01 in Cobblestone's costs and attorneys' fees within 10 days pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1447(c) and 1927.

When two weeks passed and Roberts had not yet complied, the district court ordered him to do so by December 30 or appear on January 7, 2011, to show cause why he should not be held in contempt. On January 6, Roberts filed papers admitting that he still had not complied but swearing he was financially unable to do so. The next day, as promised, the district court held a hearing to permit Roberts to explain himself. Roberts, however, failed to appear, so, as promised, the district court held him in contempt.

On January 19, relying upon its inherent power, the district court ordered Roberts to pay $6,305.18 in further costs and fees Cobblestone had incurred in preparing for the show-cause hearing Roberts had skipped and otherwise seeking Roberts's compliance with the December 2 order. The court also imposed a daily fine of $250 each on both Roberts and his firm until Roberts fully complied. The order gave Roberts until February 2 to comply in full or else appear to be incarcerated for civil contempt.

But Roberts did not comply and yet again did not appear. As a result, the court issued a bench warrant for Roberts's arrest. Roberts, in response, filed a petition for bankruptcy attempting to stay execution of the warrant, which the bankruptcy court quickly dismissed as improper for several reasons. Roberts was briefly detained, but the district court vacated the warrant after Roberts agreed to allow discovery into his financial ability to comply with the court's orders.

After discovery concluded, the district court ruled on May 16, 2011, that Roberts remained in contempt. The court found the evidence indicated that Roberts had assets he could tap to comply with its orders but had simply stonewalled inquiry into his asserted inability to pay. Therefore, relying upon its inherent authority, the court ordered him to pay Cobblestone the $33,946.57 in costs and fees it had incurred conducting discovery and contending with Roberts's obfuscation, in addition to those costs and fees the court previously had awarded. Also based upon its inherent authority, the court ordered Roberts to pay $59,000 in sanctions, consisting of the accumulated value of the $250 per day fine from the January 19 order and the $2,000 fine the court ordered that he pay on December 2. Finally, the court ordered the United States Marshal to arrest and detain Roberts “until he and Roberts Law purge[d] themselves of contempt.” Cobblestone sought an entry of judgment, which the district court granted, directing Roberts to pay Cobblestone the sum total of $55,571.76 in costs and fees plus post-judgment interest.

Roberts then filed this appeal. He attacks the district court's December 2, January 19, and May 16 costs-and-fees awards to Cobblestone.³ And he challenges the $2,000 fine the district court imposed upon him, as well as the $57,000 in per diem contempt sanctions the district court ordered him to pay. ⁴ Roberts concedes, however, that his challenge to the order that he be incarcerated for contempt is moot.

After this appeal was filed, Roberts and Cobblestone continued to litigate extensively in the district court and in several other related appeals Roberts filed (all of which have since been dismissed). Roberts was ultimately incarcerated for civil contempt on March 12, 2012, 10 months after the second warrant for his arrest issued. In a flurry of proceedings that followed, Roberts filed for bankruptcy again (which was again dismissed as filed for an improper purpose)⁵ and, after concluding Roberts remained in contempt for evading arrest and avoiding payment of Cobblestone's costs and fees, the district court held Roberts's attorney in contempt and imposed on him a fine payable to Cobblestone.

On May 7, 2012, after this appeal was fully briefed, counsel for Cobblestone, Roberts's counsel, and Roberts himself, on his own behalf and for his law firm, signed a consent order, which the district court entered. Under that judgment, Roberts agreed to pay the $2,000 fine originally ordered on December 2, 2010, into the court's registry and $55,571.76 to Cobblestone in attorneys' fees and costs. Cobblestone agreed to accept that amount, forgoing its entitlement to the accrued post-judgment interest on the costs-and-fees award and the contempt award against Roberts's counsel.⁶ Provided Roberts complied, the order directed that he be released from custody and relieved from payment of the $57,000 in contempt sanctions he had racked up based upon the $250 per day fine. As part of the agreement, Roberts also promised to dismiss a related appeal filed in this case and to file a copy of the consent order in this appeal. That same day, as required, Roberts filed proof that he had complied in full. Therefore, as promised, the district court vacated the sanctions order against Roberts's counsel, held Roberts had purged himself of contempt, and ordered the Marshal to release him from custody.

Also as he had agreed to do, Roberts filed the consent order in this case. Because it appeared to address all of the issues involved in this appeal, we directed the parties to brief the jurisdictional impact of their agreement to and compliance with the consent order. After thorough review, and with the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that this appeal is moot.

II.

Federal courts operate under a continuing obligation to inquire into the existence of subject matter jurisdiction whenever it may be lacking. Baltin v. Alaron Trading Corp., 128 F.3d 1466, 1468 (11th Cir.1997). That obligation continues through every stage of a case, even if no party raises the issue. Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., 568 U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 721, 726, 184 L.Ed.2d 553 (2013). “Whether we have jurisdiction is a question of law, which we review de novo.” San Francisco Residence Club, Inc. v. 7027 Old Madison Pike, LLC, 583 F.3d 750, 754 (11th Cir.2009). If jurisdiction is absent, then we are without power to proceed. Id.

Article III of the United States Constitution “limits the jurisdiction of federal courts to ‘Cases' and ‘Controversies' ....” Genesis...