Opinion ID: 2374701
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Injunction Pending Appeal

Text: The Superior Court issued an injunction pending appeal against Hawkes well after the appeal was docketed in the Law Court. Ordinarily the docketing of an appeal divests the Superior Court of authority to take further action on a case. M.R. Civ.P. 73(f). Here, the only possible exception to Rule 73(f) is provided by M.R.Civ.P. 62(d), which authorizes the Superior Court to issue injunctions pending appeal as follows: When an appeal is taken from an interlocutory or final judgment granting, dissolving, or denying an injunction, the court in its discretion may suspend, modify, restore, or grant and injunction during the pendency of the appeal upon such terms as to bond or otherwise as it considers proper for the security of the rights of the adverse party. Hawkes contends that Rule 62(d), by its terms, does not apply and hence the injunction was invalid for want of jurisdiction. The defendants answer, first, that Rule 62(d) does apply because the Superior Court effectively granted an injunction in its decision on the merits by affirming the Superintendent's cease-and-desist order; and, second, even if Rule 62(d) does not apply, the Superior Court had inherent power to grant the injunction. [3] We agree with Hawkes and hold the injunction invalid for lack of jurisdiction. The Superior Court's decision affirming the Bureau's cease-and-desist order was not a judgment granting ... an injunction under Rule 62(d). Under the Code, a cease-and-desist order is not the same thing as an injunction. The Superintendent may choose either to seek an injunction in court pursuant to 9-A M.R.S.A. § 6-110 (1980) or to enter an administrative order to cease and desist pursuant to 9-A M.R.S.A. § 6-108 (1980). In this case, the Superintendent chose the latter procedure. Since the judgment appealed from did not include an injunction, Rule 62(d) does not apply. See Shay v. Agricultural Stabilization & Conservation State Committee, 299 F.2d 516 (9th Cir.1962) (construing Fed.R.Civ.P. 62(c), the federal counterpart of M.R.Civ.P. 62(d)); 7 Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 62.05 n. 3 (2d ed. 1982). Rule 62(d), relating to the trial court, and Rule 62(g), relating to the Law Court, [4] merely declare the inherent power of courts to make orders to preserve the status quo and to insure the effectiveness of any eventual judgment. 2 Field, McKusick & Wroth, Maine Civil Practice § 62.2 (2d ed. 1970); see United States v. El-O-Pathic Pharmacy, 192 F.2d 62, 79-80 (9th Cir.1951) (per curiam); 11 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 2904 (1973). Orderly management of this Court's appellate docket requires careful observance of the limitations in Rule 73(f) on the Superior Court's further jurisdiction over appealed cases. For that reason, the trial court's power to grant injunctions pending appeal is circumscribed by the provisions of Rule 62(d). The federal decisions applying Fed. R.Civ.P. 62(c) are not to the contrary: the federal trial courts have entertained post-appeal applications for injunctive relief within the letter of Fed.R.Civ.P. 62(c). E.g., Pettway v. American Cast Iron Pipe Co., 411 F.2d 998, reh'g denied, 415 F.2d 1376 (5th Cir.1969); El-O-Pathic Pharmacy, 192 F.2d 62; Shinholt v. Angle, 90 F.2d 297 (5th Cir.1937). The Law Court is the proper forum for seeking an injunction pending appeal in cases not fitting within M.R.Civ.P. 62(d). Under Rule 62(g), the Law Court has the authority to grant an injunction or to make any order appropriate to preserve the status quo or the effectiveness of the judgment subsequently to be entered. The Law Court's authority is not limited to cases where an appeal is taken from a judgment granting, dissolving, or denying an injunction. See Board of Selectmen v. Kennebec County Commissioners, 393 A.2d 526, 527 (Me.1978). However, the defendants chose not to proceed under Rule 62(g). The Superior Court had no authority in this case to issue an injunction after Hawkes's appeal had been docketed in the Law Court.