Opinion ID: 1107702
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: The trial court stated that it lacked jurisdiction over the second action because it was an impermissible successive motion under Rule 60(b). We agree. Rule 60(b) was adopted to allow a trial court to give equitable relief from a final judgment even after the normal procedures of motion for new trial and appeal are no longer available. Rule 60, Ala. R. Civ. P., Committee Comments on 1973 Adoption. There are six reasons a trial court grants relief under Rule 60(b): (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence . . .; (3) fraud . . ., misrepresentations, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged or a prior judgment on which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment. Rule 60(b), Ala. R. Civ. P. In Giles v. Giles, 404 So.2d 649, 651 (Ala.1981), we held that the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure were designed to give some flexibility, particularly in an effort to do what is right and just. [T]rial courts usually have wide discretion in determining whether to grant Rule 60(b) motions, but that discretion is not unbridled. 404 So.2d at 651. The trial courts must balance the desire to remedy injustice against the need for finality of judgments. Rule 60, Committee Comments on 1973 Adoption. Keeping this balance between equity and finality in mind, Alabama courts have clearly and consistently held that post-judgment motions are not to be used as a substitute for appeal. Transcall American, Inc. v. Comtel-Birmingham, Inc., 571 So.2d 1051, 1052 (Ala.1990); Ex parte Dowling, 477 So.2d 400, 404 (Ala. 1985); Pinkerton I, supra; Ex parte Tampling Tile Co., 551 So.2d 1072, 1075 (Ala. Civ.App.1989). Successive Rule 60(b) motions brought on the same grounds are impermissible because they are generally considered motions to reconsider the original ruling and are not authorized by Rule 60(b). Wadsworth v. Markel Ins. Co., 906 So.2d 179, 182 (Ala.Civ.App.2005). A motion to reconsider the trial court's denial of a postjudgment motion is barred because after the denial the trial court loses jurisdiction over the action. Ex parte Allstate Life Ins. Co., 741 So.2d 1066, 1070 (Ala. 1999); see also Ex parte Jordan, 779 So.2d 183, 184 (Ala.2000); Ex parte Vaughan, 539 So.2d 1060, 1061 (Ala.1989); Dowling, 477 So.2d at 404. Thus, `when a post-judgment motion is denied, the review of that denial is by appeal, not by a motion to reconsider.' Ex parte Mutual Sav. Life Ins. Co., 765 So.2d 649, 651 (Ala.1998) (quoting McAlister v. Deatherage, 523 So.2d 387, 389 (Ala.1988)). Because Pinkerton's second action is its third request for postjudgment relief under Rule 60(b), we must determine whether the second action is in the nature of a motion to reconsider and is therefore an impermissible successive action over which the trial court does not have jurisdiction. In its first Rule 60(b) motion, Pinkerton argued that it was entitled to relief under Rule 60(b)(1) because that court had failed to enter an order granting Pinkerton's motion for a judgment as a matter of law before the expiration of the 90-day pendency period; that failure, Pinkerton alleged, qualified as mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable mistake. At the hearing on the motion, Pinkerton also argued that it might qualify for relief under Rule 60(b)(6). Pinkerton submitted a legal memorandum in support of its argument for relief under Rule 60(b)(6). The trial court denied Pinkerton's motion on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the motion. Pinkerton did not appeal that denial. Instead, it filed a second Rule 60(b) motion, in the same trial court, this time seeking relief under only Rule 60(b)(6) and addressing the issue of the trial court's jurisdiction over the motion. We conclude that this second motion operated as a motion to reconsider. Pinkerton's second motion sought relief on the same ground as the first, namely that Pinkerton should not suffer for the first trial court's failure to timely enter the order granting Pinkerton's motion for a judgment as a matter of law. In both motions, Pinkerton cited Rule 60(b)(6) as the basis for relief. By raising the issue of jurisdiction in the second motion, Pinkerton essentially asked the trial court to reconsider its decision on the first motion that it lacked jurisdiction. Therefore, the second motion was an impermissible successive Rule 60(b) motion, and the trial court correctly concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain that second motion. For the same reason, Pinkerton's second action, which seeks relief for a third time on the same ground Pinkerton has asserted twice before, is barred. The trial court hearing the second action correctly concluded that it did not have jurisdiction to entertain the second action. Under the well-established principle of law that a judgment rendered by a court that lacks jurisdiction is a nullity, [5] it would appear that the original trial court's denial of Pinkerton's first Rule 60(b) motion was improper because the trial court purported to deny that motion after the trial court had determined that it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the motion. It is true that had that trial court initially dismissed Pinkerton's Rule 60(b) motion without prejudice rather than denying it, Pinkerton would have had the option to appeal that dismissal on the question of jurisdiction or, alternatively, to bring the Rule 60(b) motion again in a court of competent jurisdiction; however, Pinkerton did not take either of these actions. Instead, it brought a second Rule 60(b) motion before the same trial court, arguing that the trial court did, in fact, have jurisdiction. In doing so, Pinkerton violated the policy against filing a successive Rule 60(b) motion, which is not to be used as a substitute for an appeal or as a motion for reconsideration. In addition, after Pinkerton lost on appeal to the Court of Civil Appeals from the denial of its second Rule 60(b) motion, it did not appeal to this Court but instead attempted to start the process over by filing a third Rule 60(b) motion as an independent action. Rule 60(b) is not designed or intended to allow parties to circumvent the appeal process and to drag out litigation indefinitely by filing a new motion every time a court decides it does not have jurisdiction over a matter. See Rule 60, Ala. R. Civ. P., Committee Comments on 1973 Adoption (In passing on an attack upon a judgment, the court is given a wide discretion. In exercising this discretion, the court must balance the desire to remedy injustice against the need for finality of judgments.). Therefore, we hold that the trial court in the second action correctly concluded that the second action was a successive Rule 60(b) motion and that the court therefore lacked jurisdiction to entertain the motion.