Tuvia Ben Shmuel Yosef v. The Passamaquoddy Tribe, the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, and the Shawmut Bank of Boston

IRVING R. KAUFMAN, Circuit Judge:

We are asked to decide whether a party who initiates suit in federal court loses the right to unilaterally dismiss his action when, more than nine months before, the defending parties challenged the sufficiency of his complaint in a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and also sought the imposition of penalties. Despite appellant’s attempted dismissal, the district court adjudicated the motion and found that the claims were meritless and imposed penalties. Because we believe the motion could have been treated as a request for summary judgment and…