_________________________
No. 92-1102
ALFRED STAUBLE, INDIVIDUALLY AND F/U/B WARROB, INC.,
Plaintiff, Appellee,
v.
WARROB, INC., ET AL.,
Defendants, Appellants.
____________________
No. 92-1103
ALFRED STAUBLE, INDIVIDUALLY AND F/U/B
MONTECHUSETTS LEASING CORP.,
Plaintiff, Appellee,
v.
MONTECHUSETTS LEASING CORP., ET AL.,
Defendants, Appellants.
_________________________
APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
[Hon. A. David Mazzone, U.S. District Judge]
___________________
_________________________
Before
on brief,
Palmer &
________
_________________________
_________________________
_______________
*Of the District of Massachusetts, sitting by designation.
SELYA,
SELYA,
Circuit Judge.
Circuit Judge.
______________
power to
refer
This
appeal
requires us
to
a district
to a
special
Constitution
referring
imposes on
fundamental
adjudication, over
Fed. R.
issues
Civ. P.
of
53, we
liability
conclude that
to
objection, is impermissible.
master
for
Accordingly, we
THE SETTING
THE SETTING
Plaintiff-appellee
director
of
two closely
Montechusetts Leasing
suits is
scarcely a
reduced,
however,
infighting
parties'
held
Corp.
corporations,
The saga of
short story.1
because
and Byzantine
dealings
our
Our
burden of exegesis
less
practices
than
and
Stauble's shareholder
focus is
business
Warrob, Inc.
on
on
is
the vicious
that plagued
the
procedural
path
inter
_____
sese
____
the
after
Stauble's relationship
traversed below.
In 1978,
shareholder
and
several
other
curdled, he
directors
with a
first
soured,
means
corporate
limited to,
assets,
opportunities).
breach
and
of fiduciary
duty,
misappropriation
The defendants
included the
then
behalf of the
fellow
of
but by
diversion of
corporate
shareholder with
____________________
1Although Stauble
brought two suits, the
cases were
consolidated below. Hence, we treat them as if they comprised a
single civil action.
3
whom Stauble
(Richard
King,
Gottsegen,
and
Plastics,
Robert
Gottsegen,
Lawrence Wald);
and
four
Gottsegen,
corporations (Amarin
Montechusetts Chem.
Stuart
Corp., and
jury
trial.
A
litigation.
magistrate policed
discovery at
the outset
of the
master to
parties
objected
manage
to
pretrial
this
discovery.2
reference.
The
None
of
discovery
the
period
finally closed,
mid-1986, the
case
was trial-ready.
Acting
sua
___
objected to
trial on
the
the reference.
merits.
defendants immediately
Their objection
was overruled
The
and
They
below to
was
desirable.
other
The district
things, that
the
court obliged.
record was
It
noted, among
voluminous, the
defendants
____________________
numerous,
and the
the master's
wealth of
and efficiency that the court could not aspire to match; that the
history
of the
trial,
occurring
burgeoning;
litigation foretold
at
time
that damages
were
a lengthy
when
the
and disputatious
court's
difficult to
docket
compute and
was
would
the facts and the law, and between liability and damages, made it
impractical
single trier.
After
and militated in
favor of a
court's detailed
began before
Stauble's
defendants'
claims
the
turned
master on
in
good
January 12,
measure
1988.
on
the
an important
aspect of the
trial.
After
approximately thirty-
five trial days and the submission of over four hundred exhibits,
the master resolved the
defendants, and
amount of
on
recommended that
$756,206.41.
January 8, 1990,
a judgment
a year and
be entered
in the
a half after
completion of the
trial.
Almost nine months later,
the report,
in their
entirety.
and recommendations
in excess of
$900,000 to Stauble's
roughly $60,000.
King and
attorneys,
Amarin Plastics
have
STANDARD OF REVIEW
STANDARD OF REVIEW
We
believe
that the
to masters
of the district
presents
therefore, appropriate
fundamental
a pure
issue
before us
court's power to
question of
law.
refer
It is,
de novo.
__ ____
Inc., ___ F.2d ___, ___ (1st Cir. 1992) [No. 91-2116, slip op. at
____
8]
It
is, after all, black letter law that mandamus is not a substitute
for direct appeal.
1005 (1st Cir.
Cir. 1981).
an appeal,
which almost
F.2d 4, 9 (1st
always lies
v.
Daiflon, Inc.,
_____________
449
U.S.
33,
as a
See Allied
___ ______
34 (1980)
(per
____________________
3The two appeals parallel the two underlying lawsuits.
See
___
the
supra note 1.
Although the appeals focus primarily on
_____
propriety of the district court's reference of the liability
determination to a master, the defendants assign error in other
respects as well.
Inasmuch as we remand for a new trial before
the district court, see infra, we do not pass upon the additional
___ _____
assignments of error.
6
Boreri
______
F.2d 17,
26 (1st
mandamus
petitioner
Cir. 1985).
who seeks
to
vacate
its
circumstances,
ineffectual
or
leave
859 F.2d
generally
inappropriate
See
___
make
legitimate
Recticel,
________
remedy
would
at 1005-06.
when
an
interests
Put
To
the order,
end-of-case
unduly
has
appeal
at
another way,
the petitioner
an
risk."
mandamus is
an
adequate
v. Sorren,
______
(1st Cir.
1215 (1st
Cir.
1979).
Because
way of
of the
mandamus,
petition
for
preclusive
prosecutes
Shirley, 884
the general
mandamus
effect
his
when
is
rule
not
the
is
that the
ordinarily
unsuccessful
direct appeal.
See,
___
e.g.,
____
review by
denial
entitled
petitioner
of
to
any
later
United States
_____________
v.
v. Wise, 629
_______
___
U.S. 1103
denial
of mandamus
merits
specifically addressed,
petition
reference
did not
a case.
venture to
was erroneous.
and rested
on, the
____
decide
whether the
order of
simply declined to
issue the
writ on
ample
reason, unrelated
since
danger of irreparable
at
243-44
(holding
to the
harm.4
that
it.
merits, for
going that
was
route,
if improvident, presented no
Compare,
_______
an
Moreover, there
order
F.2d
party's
justify review
is not
DISCUSSION
DISCUSSION
A.
A.
__
While
United
prescribed
in
Art.
III,"
judges
possess the
handling civil
assistants, such as
calendars
have
(plurality op.),
long relied
distinct attributes
of Article
v.
III status.5
on
do not
This
____________________
reliance
has grown
in direct
criteria set
power,
they
the length
by Article
may
proportion to
III for
appropriately
do not satisfy
the exercise
perform
of the
wide
of judicial
variety
preparatory
functions,
e.g.,
____
overseeing
discovery
spearheading
pretrial
factual
inquiries
in
controversies.
consummatory functions,
e.g.,
____
of
and
complicated
perform a variety of
superintending the
execution
of
R. Civ. P. 53 includes,
these tasks.
to appoint
The rule
special masters
but extends
empowers the
for more
than
district
these limited
Civ. P. 53(b).
consent to the
see
___
Peretz
______
v.
appointment of a master
United States,
_____________
111
S.
2661, 2669
(1991)
judge
preside over a
v. Kelleher, 728
________
F.2d 32, 35 (1st Cir.) (same), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 852 (1984),
_____ ______
____________________
conduct of
trials proper,
masters are
the district
"matters of
Fed. R.
the
court may
account, and
respect to
most helpful
where
appoint a
master
to determine
of difficult computation
of damages,"
parties,
without
providing
a further
rationale
for
the
appointment.
In
that
justify a reference.
event, only
Id.
___
an
"exceptional condition"
can
the meaning of the term in La Buy v. Howes Leather Co., 352 U.S.
_______
_________________
249
case
(1957).
"extremely congested"
Id. at 253.
___
The
that neither a
and the
trial promised to
before a
disputes.
sufficient
Id.
___
to
established by
Id.
___
The wisdom
in complex
court
What is more,
meet
the
the reference,
holding
presence of complicated
Id. at 259.
___
cases are no
than their
be protracted.
The Court
less entitled
counterparts in
more mundane
if congestion or complexity
"exceptional
to
condition"
were
criterion
La Buy
______
is evident:
crowded dockets
and
today are
10
dismayingly
commonplace; thus,
predicating access
to auxiliary
B.
B.
__
In
complexity
asserts
this
(if an
that
constitutes
case,
oxymoron can
the
the
Stauble
urges
be forgiven)
interweaving
requisite
that
of
more
mere
is involved.
liability
"exceptional
than
and
He
damages
condition."
As
the
liability
whine
and damages
alliterative
way
in
a different
bottle.
are inextricably
of saying
that a
imbrication seems to
Saying that
intertwined is
given
case suffers
just an
from a
probe this
Constitution
reference of a
Because
master
for, in
prohibits
applicable in
us
from
this case, is
allowing
the
attributes that
the
an "exceptional
overriding consideration,
who does
The
that the
nonconsensual
to an adjudicator
Article III
demands.
supplant
the
district
judge.
Accord
______
In re
______
Bituminous Coal Operators' Ass'n, Inc., 949 F.2d 1165, 1168 (D.C.
______________________________________
Cir.
1991).
Determining
bottom-line
11
legal
questions is
the
863
F.2d 149,
Educ.,
_____
158 (1st
Cir.
1988); Reed
____
v. Cleveland Bd. of
_________________
Cello, Ltd.,
___________
799 F.2d
814, 818
(2d Cir.
"not about to
not
and
determine
the
district court,
party,"
of
Thus,
from "abdicat[ing]
judgment the
any
entire case).
its
III bars
duty to
controversy presented,
its officers."
Article
determine
Kimberly v.
________
Arms, 129
____
of one
by its
own
duty upon
U.S.
512, 524
(1889).
To
be
sure, Article
III
does
not
require
In respect to preparatory
that
of law
issues
(such
as,
say, the
performance
of
an
master
may be appointed to
conclusions of law.
make findings of
As long as
supporting evidence
correct
sufficient
rely on the
determination of liability.
master's report as
See,
___
e.g., Crowell
____ _______
12
v. Benson,
______
delegate
responsibility
master);6
for
pretrial
conducting
authority,
evidentiary
court could
including
hearings,
to
at 1169 (stating
there is
issues,
on
an important
the
one
distinction between
hand,
and
such
fundamental
determinations
of
liability, on
comprise
table
setting and
comprise
the
table
As the
other hand.
clearing,
The former
while the
latter
where a
district judge does not hear and determine the main course, i.e.,
____
the
meat-and-potatoes
issues
before the
litigation."
court
of
there
is
on the
La Buy, 352
______
liability,
basic
U.S. at 256.
issues involved
Because
in
an
the
determining a
the essential
judgments to be
judicial
function identified
delegated to
by Article
of
____________________
Article
III
stature)
in
the
face
of
contemporaneous
objection.7
C.
C.
__
we do not write on a
that
have confronted
refused to
1169
(holding
that, under
pristine page.
this
issue
in the
allow references
post-Northern
________
of liability
See In re Bituminous,
___ ________________
Article
III
and
to
949 F.2d
Rule 53,
the
the issue
of liability
master violated
to a
reference of
its
____________________
8Some circuits have not decided the issue directly, but have
Compare,
_______
737 F.2d
subsequent
Article III); In re United States, 816 F.2d 1083, 1092 (6th Cir.
____________________
1987) (holding
by the
(concluding
litigants' "right to
district judge");
that, under
Rule 53,
of dispositive
But see
___ ___
motions to
In re Armco, 770
____________
to preside at trial on
issues
F.2d at
105
erred in
the merits
to
master
district court's
on
the
ground
reference of
that
the
in pre-
liability
importance
of
the
district
court, understandably
frustrated
with the snail's pace of the litigation, referred the entire case
to a special master for findings
resembling de novo
__ ____
review.
The
reference
of fundamental
issues of
court lacked
Nonconsensual
liability to
a master
for
master's final
reference.
The
report
rend harmless
confirmation of
the overly
ambitious
two
in the light
of
conclusions.
"laying on of hands"
magistrate's
cannot
validity" that he
We have
by a district judge
or master's recommendation
inoculate
accorded to the
proceeding
who adopts a
of liability
against
the
pro forma
___ _____
pathology
that
See Reed
___ ____
v. Board of Election Comm'rs, 459 F.2d 121, 123 (1st Cir. 1972);
__________________________
Rainha v.
______
violated
substantive
Article
at 1074 (ruling
III
explanation for
where
its
review
affirming" the
see also
___ ____
"provided
no
master's findings).
determination of
see Arthur
___
in this
case
by their
absence.
The
district
court
of
the evidence,
and
without any
discussion
of the
See Polin
___ _____
Cir. 1980)
_______________________
(D.C.
(1947).
Cir.
1946) (similar),
Moreover,
the
cert.
_____
denied,
______
controversy between
330 U.S.
Stauble
839
and
the
and
the
of
the
16
defendants
turned
almost
district
court heard
hearings
from
the record
it.9
no
entirely
on credibility
witnesses.
If
exists
a point
there is no
a transcript
objected in considerable
detail to the master's report, the district court did not comment
in
the
district judge's
claims
was
their objections.
below, we reluctantly
contribution to
not
sufficiently
Mindful of how
the adjudication
participatory
of Stauble's
to
cure
the
constitutional infirmity.
IV.
IV.
THE REMEDY
THE REMEDY
This
litigation
recently
mourned
its
fourteenth
anniversary.
resources.10
It
At
has
this
already
consumed
point, the
inordinate
time
and
principal beneficiaries
are
____________________
the
appellee argues
ought not to
In
support of
Inc.
____
v.
1942).11
the Seventh
master.
reviewed the
Id.
___
131
Circuit was
F.2d
"unable to
the rule . . .
The court
of appeals
find any
entire case
nevertheless
Cir.
contemplates" and
at 814.
Despite our
809 (7th
Id.
___
____________________
attaches to it.
See
___
In re Armco,
___________
tangled, and
in this case is
largely factbound.
On several
the testimony is
Credibility
vital
is
litigation.
In
such
to
reasoned
key points,
conclusions.
determination
straitened circumstances,
of
even the
the
most
satisfactory substitute
for a
trial conducted
in accordance
be sustainable")
(collecting cases).
on the compiled
While
we deeply
court.12
V.
V.
the
case
must
be
tried
by
the
district
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Article
United States be
III requires
that the
judicial power
of the
for life
tenure and
parties
protected
from diminished
their own
contrivance,
to
make
compensation.
Although
behest of a judge or at
alternative
arrangements
for
____________________
dispute resolution at
private
be
the hands of
in this
instance, the
included.
to
timely
even
that,
judicial assistants or
III surrogates.13
It
the
entire
follows
too much
the defendants'
case,
liability
We
reversed,
remanded to
need
the
go no
judgment
further.
below
the district
The
order of
is vacated,
court for a
and
new trial.
reference is
the
All
cause
is
parties
So Ordered.
So Ordered.
__________
____________________