Loubna Naji v. Andrew Lincoln

BOGGS, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs, injured in an automobile crash, sued in Michigan state court the driver of the car that struck them. Some forty-one days after he was served, the defendant filed a response in state court. Twenty-two days later (sixty-three days after having been served), the defendant removed to federal court, asserting diversity jurisdiction. After several- discovery disputes and warnings from the district court about dilatory tactics, plaintiffs’ counsel failed to attend a mandatory pretrial conference. The judge dismissed the case with prejudice, and plaintiffs appealed,…