Title: Thrasher v. Bartlett
Citation: 424 So. 2d 605
Docket Number: N/A
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: December 30, 1982

424 So. 2d 605 (1982)
John THRASHER
v.
Billy Joe BARTLETT and State Farm Fire and Casualty Company.
81-571.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
December 30, 1982.
*606 Charles C. Pinckney of Lange, Simpson, Robinson &amp; Somerville, Birmingham, for appellant.
Ralph Bland of Bland, Bland &amp; Weldon, Cullman, for appellees.
FAULKNER, Justice.
This is an appeal by John Thrasher, who attempted to intervene in the case below filed by Billy Joe Bartlett against State Farm Fire &amp; Casualty Company, Inc. Bartlett, whose house in Cullman was destroyed by fire on April 2, 1981, filed the suit against State Farm in the Circuit Court of Cullman County on August 10. His complaint sought judgment for payments due under a homeowner's policy issued by State Farm to Bartlett.
On October 1, Thrasher, who owned furniture in Bartlett's house, filed a motion to intervene. Thereafter, on October 8, the Court entered the following order:
State Farm then filed a motion to dismiss intervention on October 13, and on October 16, Bartlett likewise filed a motion to dismiss intervention. After a hearing, the Court, on October 28, deferred a ruling on the motions to dismiss the intervention "to allow Thrasher to amend his motion to intervene." On December 4, Thrasher filed an amended motion to intervene. He filed a second amendment to the motion to intervene on January 4, 1982, and attached thereto a copy of the insurance policy upon which the original plaintiff, Bartlett, filed suit against State Farm. The pertinent part of the policy stated:
On January 8, the following order was entered:
On February 19, Bartlett and State Farm filed a joint motion for dismissal with prejudice. The motion alleged that the parties had reached a full and complete settlement. On February 25, the trial court entered the following order:
On February 26, Thrasher filed suit against Bartlett and State Farm in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. State Farm made a motion to dismiss the federal court suit on March 17, asserting that the Cullman County case is res judicata of Thrasher's claim against State Farm and against the proceeds of the State Farm policy.
Thereafter, on April 5, Thrasher filed his notice of appeal from the judgment of January 8, to the Supreme Court of Alabama. State Farm filed its motion to dismiss the appeal on the grounds that the appeal was not timely filed.
*607 The controlling question in this appeal is whether the trial court's judgment denying Thrasher's motion to intervene was "final" so as to require notice of appeal to be filed within forty-two days of the date of the judgment. The following dates are pertinent to determination of the motion to dismiss the appeal:
As seen above, Thrasher's notice of appeal was not filed within 42 days of the January 8 order, but it was filed within 42 days of the February 25 order which dismissed the claim of Bartlett against State Farm.
Rule 24, Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, states:
According to the evidence presented in this case, this Court finds that Thrasher's motions to intervene were "of right."
7A C. Wright &amp; A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure (Civil), Section 1923 at 627 (1969), states:
The United States Supreme Court likewise held that where the appellant may intervene as of right, the order of the Court denying the intervention is appealable. Sam Fox Publishing Co. v. United States, 366 U.S. 683, 81 S. Ct. 1309, 6 L. Ed. 2d 604 (1961); Sutphen Estates, Inc. v. United States, 342 U.S. 19, 72 S. Ct. 14, 96 L. Ed. 19 (1951).
We therefore hold that an order denying intervention as of right is appealable. Rule 54(a) defines "judgment" as an "order from which an appeal lies." The denial of a motion to intervene is an appealable order; thus, it is a judgment under Rule 54.
Rule 54(b), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, provides as follows:
Thrasher relies on Rule 54(b) in stating that his notice of appeal was given within forty-two days from the order of the court entered on February 25, 1982, wherein Bartlett and State Farm settled the case. Thrasher, however, is misconstruing the intent of the rule. We are inclined to follow the holding of County of Fresno v. Andrus, 622 F.2d 436 (9th Cir.1980), where the Court recognized that the denial of a motion to intervene as of right is a final order within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
Rule 4, Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure, states in pertinent part:
Thus, Thrasher did not make a timely appeal from the January 8, 1982, order. This appeal is hereby dismissed.
APPEAL DISMISSED.
TORBERT, C.J., and ALMON, SHORES, EMBRY, BEATTY and ADAMS, JJ., concur.