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Gary Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, No. 22-1252 · judgment September 11, 2023


Decided · February 26, 2025
Pre-decision estimate: 11% cert probability (95% interval 7%–18%)

Before the decision, about 2.7× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a business respondent.

Question presented

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) empowers district courts, on just terms and under circumstances specified in that Rule, to "relieve a party or its legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding." The question presented, which has divided the courts of appeals, is whether a Rule 41 voluntary dismissal without prejudice is a "final judgment, order, or proceeding" under Rule 60 (b).

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Vincent Gregory Levy
Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, LLP

For respondent
Matthew Dempsey McGill
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
1 merits
(1 respondent)

Argument & decision

Argued January 14, 2025 — Vincent Levy · Matthew D. McGill. Audio and transcript

Decided February 26, 2025. Opinion by Alito.

Proceedings

  1. Mar 31 2025
    Judgment Issued.
  2. Feb 26 2025
    Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Alito, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
  3. Jan 14 2025
    Argued. For petitioner: Vincent Levy, New York, N. Y. For respondent: Matthew D. McGill, Washington, D. C.
  4. Jan 03 2025
    Reply of petitioner Gary Waetzig filed. (Distributed)
  5. Dec 26 2024
    Brief amicus curiae of The Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America filed. (Distributed)
  6. Dec 18 2024
    Brief of respondent Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. filed. (Distributed)
  7. Dec 03 2024
    CIRCULATED
  8. Nov 18 2024
    Brief of petitioner Gary Waetzig filed.
  9. Nov 07 2024
    Record received from the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The record is electronic and is available on PACER.
  10. Nov 06 2024
    Record requested from the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
  11. Nov 04 2024
    Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner GRANTED.
  12. Oct 31 2024
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Tuesday, January 14, 2025.
  13. Oct 17 2024
    Motion to dispense with printing the joint appendix filed by petitioner Gary Waetzig.
  14. Oct 04 2024
    Petition GRANTED.
  15. Jun 26 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/30/2024.
  16. Jun 24 2024
    Reply of petitioner Gary Waetzig filed. (Distributed)
  17. Jun 10 2024
    Brief of respondent Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. in opposition filed.
  18. May 02 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including June 10, 2024.
  19. Apr 30 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from May 10, 2024 to June 10, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
  20. Apr 10 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/26/2024.
  21. Apr 10 2024
    Response Requested. (Due May 10, 2024)
  22. Apr 05 2024
    Waiver of right of respondent Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. to respond filed.
  23. Mar 04 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 5, 2024)