Opinion ID: 769070
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Motion for Relief from the Judgment

Text: 38 Applying federal law, this court reviews for an abuse of discretion the district court's decision to grant or deny a Rule 60(b) motion in a diversity case. See Davis v. Jellico Community Hosp. Inc., 912 F.2d 129, 132-33 (6th Cir. 1990). DP&L contends that the district court abused its discretion in denying DP&L's motion for relief from the judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(5) on the ground that the judgment has been partially satisfied. 39 First, DP&L argues that it should now be relieved of liability for the prejudgment interest, because, due to GHC's payment of the full amount of the underlying $3.5 million judgment, there is no longer a judgment on which prejudgment interest may be based.Although neither party has cited published Ohio cases that are directly on point, as a matter of logic it is clear that a prejudgment interest award cannot be eradicated by a postjudgment settlement for the amount of the jury verdict, since the prejudgment interest was merged with the amount of the jury verdict to form the total judgment. See Nakoff v. Fairview Gen. Hosp., 694 N.E.2d 107, 108 (Ohio Ct. App.), appeal not allowed, 680 N.E.2d 1022 (Ohio 1997). It would therefore be inaccurate to state that the judgment has been fully satisfied by GHC's payment of $3.675 million after the prejudgment interest was awarded against DP&L 7 . Moreover, it is irrelevant for the purposes of prejudgment interest that the amount of the verdict is paid subsequent to the verdict, because prejudgment interest is intended to compensate the plaintiff for the delay between the time the cause of action arose and the verdict. See, e.g., Woods v. Farmers Ins. of Columbus, Inc., 666 N.E.2d 283, 286 (Ohio Ct. App. 1995). Therefore, a defendant is not relieved of the requirement to pay prejudgment interest merely because its co-obligor settles with the plaintiff after the verdict. Although DP&L cites several cases that purportedly hold to the contrary, Conte is correct in pointing out that those cases either involved preverdict settlements or verdicts that legitimately apportioned damages among defendant tortfeasors. Those cases are therefore not apposite. For these reasons, we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to relieve DP&L from having to pay prejudgment interest on the entire judgment. 40 Additionally, DP&L claims that it is entitled to a reduction of the judgment against it based on GHC's settlement with Conte, in partial satisfaction of the judgment, for $3.675 million. Given our holding that DP&L is required to pay prejudgment interest, the parties do not appear to disagree about the amount for which DP&L remains liable: the entire judgment of $3.5 million, plus the prejudgment interest on that amount ($958,904.10), minus the $3.675 million paid by GHC, plus the appropriate postjudgment interest. Since we are remanding the case to the district court for the calculation of postjudgment interest, we suggest that the district judge amend the judgment to reflect the payment of $3.675 million by GHC and the revised amount of DP&L's liability, consistent with this opinion.