Opinion ID: 492460
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 9 As an initial matter, we must address the issue of this Court's jurisdiction. The FDIC filed a motion to dismiss Neu Cheese's appeal for lack of jurisdiction on January 28, 1987, and on March 5, 1987, this Court denied the motion. The FDIC has reasserted the question of lack of jurisdiction in its brief and at oral argument before the Court. Ordinarily we would not pass upon this question once our Court has acted, but in the case of jurisdictional concerns this Court may always review its orders to avoid clear error, whenever it deems necessary. Defendant-appellant Neu Cheese filed a premature notice of appeal in the district court on October 10, 1986. At the same time, Neu Cheese filed a motion for rehearing. The Court of Appeals clerk's office notified Neu Cheese's attorney that the notice of appeal was premature and that we are withholding docketing this appeal because of the pending defendant's motion for rehearing. At the same time, the clerk's office wrote that the district court should forward to the Court of Appeals clerk's office two certified copies of its ruling on the motion together with updated docket entries. Because of the pending motion for rehearing, the notice of appeal filed in October had no legal effect. See Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rule 4(a). Under these circumstances, it would have been Neu Cheese's duty to file a new notice of appeal following the trial court's ruling on its motion for rehearing. However, in the present case, we find that our clerk's office did not docket the appeal until November 17 and at that time showed that the fee was paid and at that time filed the certified copies of the notice of appeal docket entries and judgment from the district court. On this basis, the Court finds that sufficient compliance with Rule 4(a) occurred and that although a new notice of appeal was not docketed in the district court, the clerk's office docketed the appeal on a timely basis. It was on this basis that our Court ruled on March 5, 1987, that the motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction was to be denied. We now reaffirm this ruling because there was substantial compliance with Rule 4(a) by the appellant through the agency of the clerk's office. 10 In effect, the clerk's letter of October 30, 1986, lulled Neu Cheese's counsel into believing that the appeal would be docketed at the time that the motion for rehearing was overruled. In fact, this was done. Since that time, the practice of our clerk's office has changed, and, when a premature motion is filed in accordance with Rule 4(a)(4), the appellant is notified that a new notice of appeal must be filed within the prescribed time and that no additional fees will be required for such filing. In this case, although a new notice of appeal was not filed, the clerk's office, in effect, filed the previous notice of appeal as a new notice of appeal within the prescribed time. We emphasize that all counsel in the future should follow the literal language of Rule 4(a)(4) and file a new notice of appeal within the prescribed time in the district court. On this basis, we find that this Court has jurisdiction and we now entertain the merits of the appeal.