Opinion ID: 2460905
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Unique Circumstances Doctrinean Exception

Text: Our determination of both the viability and applicability of the unique circumstances doctrine involves questions of law, over which this court has unlimited review. See Finley, 285 Kan. at 207, 170 P.3d 407; In re Tax Appeal of Sumner County, 261 Kan. 307, 316, 930 P.2d 1385 (1997). To understand the Court of Appeals' concerns about the continued viability of the unique circumstances doctrine it is necessary to describe the doctrine's history. The doctrine was first recognized by the United States Supreme Court in Harris Truck Lines, Inc. v. Cherry Meat Packers, Inc., 371 U.S. 215, 83 S.Ct. 283, 9 L.Ed.2d 261 (1962). See Bowles, 551 U.S. at 213, 127 S.Ct. 2360. In Harris Truck Lines, after the federal district court dismissed the complaint, the plaintiff asked for and received an extension of time to file a notice of appeal. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, like K.S.A. 60-2103(a), only allowed an extension of time to file an appeal if the movant could show excusable neglect based on his or her failure to learn of the entry of the judgment. This exception did not apply, but Harris Truck Lines (Harris) asked for an extension based on other reasons. The district court granted an extension, and Harris filed its notice of appeal within the extended time period. On appeal, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case due to lack of jurisdiction, concluding the district court did not have the authority to grant the extension of time. Harris Truck Lines, Inc. v. Cherry Meat Packers, Inc., 303 F.2d 609, 611-12 (7th Cir.1962). On review, the United States Supreme Court reversed this holding, despite the plain language of the federal rule that limited the basis for the extension of time. The Court stated: In view of the obvious great hardship to a party who relies upon the trial judge's finding of `excusable neglect' prior to the expiration of the 30-day period and then suffers reversal of the finding, it should be given great deference by the reviewing court. Whatever the proper result as an initial matter on the facts here, the record contains a showing of unique circumstances sufficient that the Court of Appeals ought not to have disturbed the motion judge's ruling. (Emphasis added.) Harris, 371 U.S. at 217, 83 S.Ct. 283. Two years later, the Supreme Court applied the unique circumstances doctrine again in Thompson v. I.N.S., 375 U.S. 384, 84 S.Ct. 397, 11 L.Ed.2d 404 (1964). In that case, after the deadline for filing posttrial motions had passed, Thompson served notice on the government that he would appear before the district court with posttrial motions. The government made no objection concerning the motions' timeliness, and the district court ultimately denied Thompson's posttrial motions. On appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the government moved to dismiss the appeal because Thompson's posttrial motions were not timely and, therefore, did not toll the period for filing a notice of appeal. The Seventh Circuit granted the government's motion to dismiss. Thompson v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 318 F.2d 681, 684 (7th Cir.1963). The Supreme Court reversed the Seventh Circuit and applied its holding in Harris, stating: The instant cause fits squarely within the letter and spirit of Harris. Here, as there, petitioner did an act which, if properly done, postponed the deadline for the filing of his appeal. Here, as there, the District Court concluded that the act had been properly done. Here, as there, the petitioner relied on the statement of the District Court and filed the appeal within the assumedly new deadline but beyond the old deadline. And here, as there, the Court of Appeals concluded that the District Court had erred and dismissed the appeal. Accordingly, in view of these `unique circumstances,' [citation omitted,] we grant the writ of certiorari, vacate the judgment, and remand the case to the Court of Appeals so that petitioner's appeal may be heard on the merits. Thompson, 375 U.S. at 387, 84 S.Ct. 397. Following the United States Supreme Court decisions, this court adopted the unique circumstances doctrine in Schroeder, 242 Kan. 710, 750 P.2d 405. There, it was applied to permit an untimely appeal in which the delayed filing resulted from (1) the appellant's good faith and reasonable belief that the judicial action seemingly extending the time for filing was valid; (2) the perceived extension was for no more than 30 days and was made and entered prior to the expiration of the official appeal period; and (3) the appellant filed the appeal within the extension. The Schroeder court held that the reasoning in Harris and in Stauber v. Kieser, 810 F.2d 1 (10th Cir.1982) (applying the unique circumstances doctrine to save an appeal where the district court improperly granted an extension of time to file a posttrial motion), applied. Schroeder, 242 Kan. at 712-14, 750 P.2d 405. Then, in a case factually similar to Thompson, Stauber, and the present case, this court again applied the unique circumstances doctrine in Johnson, 243 Kan. 291, 758 P.2d 206. There, the appellant did not timely file its postjudgment motions and therefore the 30-day period for filing an appeal was not tolled and the notice of appeal was untimely. In applying the unique circumstances doctrine to save the appeal, the Johnson court quoted extensively from Schroeder (which included a quotation from Stauber ). Johnson, 243 Kan. at 298-301, 758 P.2d 206. Since the decisions in Schroeder and Johnson, Kansas appellate courts have sparingly applied the doctrine to provide relief. See, e.g., In re Tax Appeal of Sumner County, 261 Kan. at 317, 930 P.2d 1385 (untimely filed petition for reconsideration excused where Board of Tax Appeals made erroneous statement regarding filing period); Slayden v. Sixta, 250 Kan. 23, 30-31, 825 P.2d 119 (1992) (where 40-day delay in serving summons was caused by error of clerk of district court); In re Guardianship of Sokol, 40 Kan.App.2d 57, 61, 189 P.3d 526 (2008) (failure to file the notice of appeal within 30 days of the journal entry denying motion to alter or amend the judgment was excused); McMillan v. McKune, 35 Kan.App.2d 654, 661, 135 P.3d 1258 (2006) (unique circumstances doctrine applied to render timely inmate's otherwise untimely filing of habeas petition); In re Marriage of Powell, No. 98,209, 2008 WL 2891080, at  (Kan.App.2008) (unpublished opinion) (failure to file a timely notice of appeal was excused under the unique circumstances doctrine); see also Nguyen v. IBP, Inc., 266 Kan. 580, 587, 972 P.2d 747 (1999) (where filing delay is direct result of an error made in administrative law judge's office, doctrine could be found applicable). At first glance, the rationale of cases like Harris Truck Lines, Thompson, Stauber, Schroeder, and Johnson leads to the conclusion that the unique circumstances doctrine should apply to the facts of this case. In each of these cases, the court clearly focused on the predicament the appellants found themselves in when they relied on a district court's action that purportedly tolled or extended the time period for filing a notice of appeal and, then, based on this reliance, the appellants refrained from filing a notice of appeal until the correct deadline had passed. This is precisely what happened here. Park City relied on the district court's action that purportedly extended the time period for filing a post-judgment motion, and, based on this reliance, Park City waited until the district court ruled on the postjudgment motion before filing a notice of appeal. By that time, the statutory deadline for filing a notice of appeal had passed. Yet, our decision is not that simple because, as aptly noted by the Court of Appeals, Over time, the legal foundation upon which Schroeder and Johnson was built has slowly eroded away, making the precedential value of those two cases questionable at best. Board of Sedgwick County Commr's, 41 Kan.App.2d at 656, 204 P.3d 648.