Overcomes Defendant’s Attempt to Invoke the Rooker-Feldman Doctrine to avoid a Federal Claim for Possession | Doonan, Graves & Longoria, LLC

February 2023

At bottom, Schreffler has repackaged her res judicata argument in the wrappings of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. Because Stonecrest is not ‘seeking to have this court reject the two previous state court judgments,’ the Rooker-Feldman doctrine simply does not apply.

Court Thwarts Borrower’s Attempt to use Rooker-Feldman Doctrine to dismiss Federal Possession/Eviction Case in theDistrict of Massachusetts

Following a thorough, clear analysis of the history and application of the Rooker Feldman Doctrine, the Federal Court rejected the Defendants’ attempt to avoid our client’s claims.  

The Court explained that "the Rooker-Feldman doctrine is narrow, prohibiting only de facto appeals of state court judgments, and distinct from the law of issue and claim preclusion. . . the critical datum is whether the plaintiff’s federal suit is, in effect, an end-run around a final state-court judgment . . . Rooker-Feldman is not simply preclusion by another name."

Rooker-Feldman.Order-Motion_for_Reconsideration-Denied.pdf

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