Opinion ID: 559946
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Service of Judgment by Clerk

Text: 16 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 77(d) directs: 17 [i]mmediately upon the entry of an order or judgment the clerk shall serve a notice of the entry by mail in the manner provided for in Rule 5 upon each party who is not in default for failure to appear, and shall make a note in the docket of the mailing.... Lack of notice of the entry by the clerk does not affect the time to appeal.... 18 Here, the clerk failed to give notice. This failure, standing alone, is harmless where the moving party could have ascertained notice of judgment on its own. The rule states that lack of notice does not affect the time for appeal. The note to Rule 77(d) states that [i]t would ... be entirely unsafe for a party to rely on absence of notice from the clerk of the entry of a judgment, or to rely on the adverse party's failure to serve notice of the entry of judgment. See Stevens v. ITT Systems, Inc., 868 F.2d 1040 (9th Cir.1989) (due diligence required of counsel in ascertaining whether judgment had been entered regardless of clerk's failure to give notice pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 77(d)). See also Rodgers v. Watt, 722 F.2d 456 (9th Cir.1983) (en banc) (where clerk failed to notify the parties of the entry of judgment and time for appeal had expired, plaintiff able to gain relief from judgment only upon a showing of excusable neglect for his failure to learn of judgment on his own).