Thursday, December 9, 2010

District Court Can Consider Item Which Can Be Judicially Noticed At Motion To Dismiss Stage

In Peter Halmos, et al v. Bomardier Aerospace Corp. (10-12411), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed THIS order from the district court dismissing a claim for malicious prosecution.  The court noted that while "at the Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) stage, we 'primarily consider the allegations in the complaint,” but “[t]he court  is not  [always]  limited to the  four corners of the complaint.' Long v. Slaton, 508 F.3d 576, 578 n.3 (11th Cir. 2007)."  In addition to looking to the four corners of the complaint:
a district court may take judicial notice of matters of public record without converting a Rule 12(b)(6) motion  into a Rule 56 motion. See Bryant v. Avado Brands, Inc., 187 F.3d 1271, 1278 (11th Cir. 1999); see also Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights,  Ltd.,  551 U.S.  308,  322,  127  S. Ct.  2499,  2509 (2007)
In granting the motion to dismiss, the district court properly looked to the complaint and its attachments, and the record from an action in a Texas lawsuit.  You can view the briefs at the following links: Initial BriefAnswer Brief; and Reply Brief.

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