Court Opinion

ID: 9668400
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:11:41.004977+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:45.192374
License: Public Domain

VANDE WALLE, Chief Justice,
concurring in result.
I concur in the result reached by the majority. Our recent decisions hold that there is a two-step process to an appeal, i.e., that the order or judgment must be appealable under section 28-27-02, N.D.C.C., and that the requirements of Rule 54(b), N.D.R.Civ.P., if applicable, be met. E.g., B.H. v. K.D., 506 N.W.2d 368 (N.D.1993).
Shirley Wyatt was not a party to the action and therefore the second step, compliance with Rule 54(b), is not applicable. Because I am not convinced Shirley Wyatt could appeal from a final judgment to which she was not a party, I agree with the “special proceedings” analogy of the majority.
Although the majority orders the trial court to allow Shirley to intervene, I note the trial court is free to order a separate trial “to prevent delay or prejudice” in accord with Rule 20(b), N.D.R.Civ.P., or “in furtherance of convenience or to avoid prejudice” under Rule 42(b), N.D.R.Civ.P.
Here, the trial court refused the motion to intervene because, among other reasons, “there was acrimony and substantial discord between the Wyatt’s [sic] during the previous divorce litigation that has not dissipated” and that “judicial economy would be compromised if Shirley Wyatt was allowed to intervene in Donald Wyatt’s civil litigation against R.D. Werner and Ardell Adams.” The court further concluded that “the joinder would cause harm and perhaps destruction of the respective party’s claims.”
These reasons appear ample reasons to order separate trials under the authority given the trial judge by Rules 20(b) and 42(b).