The Third Circuit issued an unusual non-precedential opinion today. The court affirmed a district court order that dismissed a suit brought by two police officers for failing to comply with Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by failing to cite the parts of the record establishing factual disputes.

Said the opinion:

We recognize that our Order affirming this dismissal based solely on Plaintiff’s attorney’s failure to comply with a rudimentary procedural rule extinguishes any meritorious claims Plaintiffs may have had. Plaintiffs’ loss therefore results solely from their attorney’s ineffective representation rather than any defect that may (or may not) have existed in Plaintiffs’ claims.

Nevertheless, our review is limited to the propriety of the District Court’s order dismissing the complaint and granting judgment to Defendants as a matter of law. Since we conclude that the dismissal was appropriate, Plaintiffs’ only possible recovery must come from their attorney’s malpractice insurer, not from any of the Defendants. In order to ensure that Plaintiffs are aware of this potential recourse, we will instruct Plaintiffs’ attorney to share this opinion with his clients and to ask them to send a letter to the Clerk of this Court confirming that they have read this opinion, and that they fully understand their potential recourse.

Probably not the appellate outcome that counsel was hoping for. (His oral argument didn’t go so hot, either. I think the court did the right thing in giving counsel the chance to explain himself, though.)

This is just the latest example of the Third Circuit coming down hard on attorney errors; I discussed other recent instances here.