[Not for Publication]



                            United States Court of Appeals

                                For the First Circuit

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        No. 96-2189



                                    MARTIN HODAS,



                                Plaintiff, Appellant,



                                          v.



                      SHERBURNE, POWERS & NEEDHAM, P.C., ET AL.,



                                Defendants, Appellees.



                                 ____________________



                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT



                          FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS



                  [Hon. George A. O'Toole, Jr., U.S. District Judge]
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                                 ____________________



                                        Before



                                Torruella, Chief Judge,
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                              Cyr, Senior Circuit Judge,
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                              and Stahl, Circuit Judge.
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            Matthew Cobb on brief for appellant.
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            Gael  Mahoney, Michael  D. Weisman,  Amy  B.  Rifkind, and  Hill &
            _____________  ___________________   ________________       ______

        Barlow on brief for appellees.
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                                 ____________________



                                    April 24, 1997

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                      Per curiam.   Having reviewed  the parties'  briefs
                      Per curiam.
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            and the  appellate  record  for  this  case,  we  affirm  the



            judgment  of the  district court  for substantially  the same



            reasons stated in  the August 16,  1996 memorandum and  order



            dismissing the  action on statute-of-limitations grounds.  We



            add only the following.



                      We find  no merit to plaintiff's  argument that the



            district  court  improperly  considered  matters  outside the



            pleadings  without converting  defendants' motion  to dismiss



            into one for summary judgment.  See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).
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            Plaintiff referenced but failed  to submit with his complaint



            a pertinent document that defendants introduced in support of



            their  12(b)(6) motion.   The  court properly  considered the



            document as part  of the  pleadings for the  purposes of  the



            motion to dismiss.  See Romani v. Shearson Lehman Hutton, 929
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            F.2d  875, 879  n.3 (1st  Cir. 1991);  5 Charles A.  Wright &



            Arthur R.  Miller, Federal  Practice and Procedure    1327 at
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            762-63  (2d ed.  1990);  see also  Venture  Assocs. Corp.  v.
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            Zenith  Data  Sys.  Corp.,  987  F.2d   429,  431  (7th  Cir.
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            1993)("Documents  that a  defendant attaches  to a  motion to



            dismiss  are considered  part of  the pleadings  if they  are



            referred to  in the plaintiff's complaint and  are central to



            her claim.").



                      Affirmed.  Costs to appellees.
                      Affirmed.  Costs to appellees.
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