JEROME B. SIMANDLE, Chief District Judge.
Before the Court is Plaintiffs Reuben and Steven Durst's motion for reconsideration [Docket Item 122] directed at four opinions and orders issued by this Court and Magistrate Judge Donio over the course of the last two years. Plaintiffs' motion will be denied because their motion is untimely and procedurally deficient, and because Plaintiffs have not shown that the Court made any clear errors of fact or law, that there is new evidence, or that there has been an intervening change in the controlling law. The Court finds the following:
1. Steven and Reuben Durst and the Jake Ball Trust filed the instant action against Matthew Durst in Cumberland County Superior Court on May 17, 2012. [Docket Item 1-2.] Plaintiffs Steven and Reuben Durst sought injunctive relief and damages against Defendant Matthew Durst for misappropriation of assets, self-dealing, failure to provide annual accountings, and misrepresentation regarding delivery of trust assets. The complaint sought removal of Matthew Durst as Trustee, an order restraining Matthew Durst from access to any and all Trust assets, immediate return of misappropriated funds, compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney's fees and costs. Defendant Matthew Durst filed a motion to dismiss in state court. The state court granted the motion to dismiss with regard to the Jake Ball Trust and denied the remainder of the motion. With the Jake Ball Trust eliminated as a party, diversity jurisdiction existed, and Defendant Matthew Durst removed the instant action to the District of New Jersey. [Docket Item 1.] Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint on February 15, 2013 adding claims for legal malpractice against Halloran & Sage, LLP ("H & S"), Robinson & Cole, LLP ("R & C"), and Kelley Galica-Peck. [Docket Item 24.]
2. On August 5, 2013, the Court granted Defendant Matthew Durst's motion for partial summary judgment, concluding that Plaintiffs are "collaterally estopped from arguing that the settlement entered into by Matthew Durst in
3. On July 25, 2014, Magistrate Judge Ann Marie Donio denied Plaintiffs' second motion for leave to file a second amended complaint, by which Plaintiffs sought for a second time to assert a legal malpractice claim against John A. Yacovelle and the Law Office of John A. Yacovelle arising out of Yacovelle's involvement in the settlement of the state court case.
4. On January 13, 2015, the Court granted Defendant R & C's motion for summary judgment, concluding that R & C cannot be liable for Galica-Peck's conduct before she joined the firm and that they are not liable for her conduct while employed at the firm because Plaintiffs proffered no evidence of causation or damages. [Docket Item 98.]
5. On April 10, 2015, Judge Donio denied Plaintiff's third motion for leave to file a second amended complaint, by which Plaintiffs sought to add additional defendants. [Docket Item 115.] There was no appeal from Judge Donio's order.
6. Pursuant to Judge Donio's Scheduling Order, all discovery is now closed. [Docket Item 116.] Remaining defendants Matthew Durst, H & S, and Kelley Galica-Peck have each moved for summary judgment [Docket Items 123, 124, 125], which will be addressed separately.
7. At the outset, the Court notes that Plaintiffs' "Motion to Reconsider: Denial of a Motion to Amend Complaint to Join Additional Defendants; Granting of Motion for Summary Judgment for Defendants Robinson & Cole; Granting Motion for Partial Summary Judgment in Favor of Matthew Durst; Denying Motion to Amend Complaint to Join John Yacovelle, Esquire as a Defendant"
8. Notwithstanding the timeliness issue, Plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration lacks merit with respect to each of the four orders challenged. The party seeking reconsideration bears the heavy burden of demonstrating either: "`(1) an intervening change in controlling law; (2) the availability of new evidence not available previously; or (3) the need to correct a clear error of law or prevent manifest injustice.'"
9. As this Court has noted, "A motion for reconsideration. . . constitutes an extremely limited procedural vehicle, and does not provide the parties with an opportunity for a second bite at the apple, nor a vehicle to relitigate old matters or argue new matters that could have been raised before the court made its original decision."
10. Construing the Certification of Steven Durst as a brief, the Court notes that Plaintiffs raise two grounds for reconsideration: (1) that denial of their motion will result in manifest injustice, and (2) that additional information secured during discovery will disclose specific new facts that justify reconsideration. (Durst Cert., ¶ 2.)
11. Plaintiffs fail to identify a clear error in law or fact committed by the undersigned or Judge Donio resulting in manifest injustice. A motion for reconsideration on this ground will succeed only where the movant notes "dispositive factual matters . . . which were presented to the court but not considered on the original motion."
12. In the alternative, the Durst certification purports to include new facts uncovered during discovery that justify reconsideration of this Court's grant of R & C's motion for summary judgment and Judge Donio's denial of Plaintiffs' attempt to add real estate appraisers as defendants. "To permit reconsideration when new evidence becomes available, the moving party must present new evidence that would alter the disposition of the case."
13. It is unclear which of the exhibits appended to Durst Certification are "newly discovered," as opposed to evidence earlier submitted to the Court. Even assuming arguendo that all of Steven Durst's supporting documentation is new to the Court, it consists largely of emails or other documents that were in
14. The other exhibits appended to the Durst Certification are excerpts from the April 2015 depositions of Kelley Galica-Peck and Matthew Durst. (Durst. Cert. Exhibit List.) While these depositions were taken after each of these four motions were decided, discovery in this case opened in October 2012. [Docket Item 5.] Plaintiffs offer no explanation for the delay in taking these depositions that forced this testimony to become "newly discovered" after these four challenged motions were decided.
15. Additionally, one of Plaintiffs' principal points in seeking reconsideration of the orders regarding R & C and the appraisers is that Defendants have been withholding evidence that would alter the Court's decision on summary judgment if it had been considered. (Durst Cert. ¶¶ 42, 43, 47, 48, 49, 51.) A motion for reconsideration is not the proper vehicle for Plaintiffs to seek additional discovery or to forecast hypothetical decisions based on hypothetical evidence. Plaintiffs' motion is denied.
16. An accompanying Order will be entered.