Opinion ID: 1584087
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Show-Cause Order

Text: The grant of a Rule 60(b)[, Ala. R. Civ. P.,] motion is generally treated as interlocutory and not appealable. Ex parte Short, 434 So.2d 728, 730 (Ala.1983). Accordingly, on August 22, 2007, this Court ordered WMB to show cause why the circuit court's December 29, 2006, order was appealable. An order granting a Rule 60(b), Ala. R. Civ. P., motion generally is not appealable because further proceedings are contemplated by the trial court. Ex parte Overton, 985 So.2d 423, 424 (Ala. 2007). When a circuit court's order [granting relief under Rule 60(b)] was final because no further proceedings were contemplated in the circuit court, however, we have held that the order should be treated as a final judgment for purposes of appeal. Id. (citing Sanders v. Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Alabama, Inc., 368 So.2d 8 (Ala.1979)). See generally § 12-22-2, Ala.Code 1975 (providing that an appeal lies from any final judgment of the circuit court). WMB contends that the circuit court's order is appealable because, although it purported to alter the final judgment in the instant action from a dismissal with prejudice to a dismissal without prejudice, it nonetheless was a dismissal and therefore constituted a final judgment. Consistent with the above-stated principles, we agree that the circuit court's order acted as a final judgment in the instant action. We therefore will consider the merits of WMB's appeal.