Title: Melland Firestone, Inc. v. Streich

State: north-dakota

Issuer: North Dakota Supreme Court

Document:

226 N.W.2d 141 (1975) MELLAND FIRESTONE, INC., Plaintiff/Appellee, v. Orrin STREICH, Defendant/Appellant, and Oakes Community Industrial Development Corporation, and First James River National Bank, Defendants. No. 9079. Supreme Court of North Dakota. January 30, 1975. Vogel, Vogel, Brantner & Kelly, Fargo, for defendant/appellant. Ottmar, Nething & Pope, Jamestown, for plaintiff/appellee. *142 SAND, Judge. This case involves a motion made by appellee Melland Firestone, Inc. to dismiss the appeal from the judgment entered in favor of Melland Firestone, Inc. against Streich, the appellant, on the foreclosure of a mechanic's lien for appellant's failure to comply with Rule 10(b), North Dakota Rules of Appellate Procedure. The basic action consists of a foreclosure of a mechanic's lien by Melland Firestone, Inc. against Streich and a counterclaim by Streich against Melland Firestone, Inc. The trial court, pursuant to motion made, granted a separate trial for the mechanic's lien and a separate trial for the counterclaim. Judgment by the trial court was rendered on the mechanic's lien, from which this appeal was taken. The appellant concedes that he has not complied with the requirements of N.D.R.App.P. 10(b) and that he has done nothing further in pursuance of his appeal since the timely filing of his notice of appeal on August 23, 1974. The appellant, however, resists the dismissal motion, and in his return to the motion to dismiss states that no further action was taken because the issues raised by the counterclaim remain to be tried, and that he was waiting for the disposition of the counterclaim so that it, if necessary, could also be appealed with the current appeal, as one case. Both parties agree that the foreclosure of the mechanic's lien and the counterclaim each had its genesis in the same transaction. Rule 54(b), North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure, provides as follows: In Giese v. Engelhardt, 175 N.W.2d 578, 583 (N.D.1970), we said: The term "claims" as found in N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b) is used in the general sense so as to include issues. Mitzel v. Schatz, 167 N.W.2d 519 (N.D.1968). In the instant case, the parties agree and the record reflects that no such determination has been made by the trial court. Accordingly, the attempted appeal, of *143 which dismissal is sought, is premature. The attempted appeal is therefore dismissed without prejudice. ERICKSTAD, C.J., and VOGEL, PEDERSON and PAULSON, JJ., concur.