Opinion ID: 2382833
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Foster, Cochrane, and Dornan's motion for remand

Text: In the present matter, the district court has certified its intent to grant appellants' NRCP 60(b)(2) motion for relief from the final judgment in accordance with the procedures outlined above. As a result, Foster, Cochrane, and Dornan now move this court to remand this matter to the district court so that it can enter an order granting the relief requested in their NRCP 60(b)(2) motion. Dingwall opposes the remand motion, arguing that the NRCP 60(b)(2) motion is untimely; Foster and Cochrane have filed a reply asserting, among other things, that their motion was timely. NRCP 60(b) provides that a motion for relief from a final order or judgment based on newly discovered evidence must be made within a reasonable time, and ... not more than 6 months after the proceeding was taken or the date that written notice of entry of the judgment or order was served. Here, although written notice of entry of the final judgment was served on August 29, 2007, appellants' NRCP 60(b)(2) motion was not filed in the district court until July 29, 2009, well beyond the six-month limitations period for seeking such relief. This raises the issue of whether appellants' pending appeal, which was perfected by the timely filing of a notice of appeal within NRCP 60(b)'s six-month period on September 7, 2007, affects the running of the time limit for seeking NRCP 60(b) relief. In other words, we must determine whether the perfection of this appeal tolled the running of NRCP 60(b)'s six-month time limit. To resolve this issue, we look to federal caselaw, as this court has recognized that federal decisions involving the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide persuasive authority when this court examines its rules. Nelson v. Heer, 121 Nev. 832, 834, 122 P.3d 1252, 1253 (2005). As amended effective January 1, 2005, NRCP 60(b) largely replicates Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b), as written before the Federal Rules' 2007 revisions. NC-DSH, Inc. v. Garner, 125 Nev. ___, ___, 218 P.3d 853, 856 (2009) (comparing NRCP 60(b) to Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) and discussing the differences between the two rules). Thus, federal court opinions addressing whether the period of an appeal tolls the time for seeking relief from a final order or judgment, under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b), serve as persuasive authority for this court's examination of this issue with regard to NRCP 60(b). Our review of the federal courts' precedent reveals that the courts have overwhelmingly concluded that the one-year period for seeking relief under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) is not tolled by the filing of a notice of appeal. See The Tool Box, Inc. v. Ogden City Corp., 419 F.3d 1084, 1088 (10th Cir.2005); King v. First American Investigations, Inc., 287 F.3d 91, 94 (2d Cir.2002); Berwick Grain v. Illinois Dept. of Agriculture, 189 F.3d 556, 559 (7th Cir.1999); Federal Land Bank of St. Louis v. Cupples Bros., 889 F.2d 764, 766-67 (8th Cir.1989); Nevitt v. U.S., 886 F.2d 1187, 1188 (9th Cir.1989); Hancock Industries v. Schaeffer, 811 F.2d 225, 239 (3d Cir.1987); Carr v. District of Columbia, 543 F.2d 917, 925-26 (D.C.Cir.1976); Transit Casualty Company v. Security Trust Company, 441 F.2d 788, 791 (5th Cir.1971); see also 12 James Wm. Moore et al., Moore's Federal Practice § 60.65[2][d] (3d ed.2009) (stating that virtually all courts agree that a pending appeal does not toll the Rule 60(b) time limit). In implementing this rule, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has noted that a contrary rule could impair the finality of judgments and prolong appellate proceedings that may take months or years to complete. See Nevitt v. U.S., 886 F.2d 1187, 1188 (9th Cir.1989) (noting concern in scholarly commentary over the impairment of finality of judgments and additions to the time necessary for appellate resolution). We find this approach to be sound practice and, thus, adopt the same approach with regard to requests for relief made under NRCP 60(b). Accordingly, we conclude that the six-month time period for seeking relief under NRCP 60(b)(2) is not tolled by the perfection of an appeal. [4] Because appellants' pending appeal did not toll the six-month period for seeking NRCP 60(b)(2) relief, appellants' motion for NRCP 60(b)(2) relief was untimely filed in the district court. As a result, we deny their motion for remand, despite the district court's certification of its intent to grant the requested NRCP 60(b)(2) relief. See Mack-Manley, 122 Nev. at 856, 138 P.3d at 530 (indicating that, even if the district court certifies that it intends to grant relief, the decision as to whether a motion for remand will be granted remains within this court's discretion); cf. Hancock Industries v. Schaeffer, 811 F.2d 225, 239 (3d Cir.1987) (rejecting a motion for remand made after the time for seeking relief under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) had expired). We concur: PARRAGUIRRE, C.J., DOUGLAS, CHERRY, SAITTA, GIBBONS, and PICKERING, JJ.