Court Opinion

ID: 9762913
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:33:46.000658+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:38.433348
License: Public Domain

FLANIGAN, Judge,
concurring.
I concur with the principal opinion’s treatment of the merits. I address only one procedural aspect.
In Colton, McMichael v. Mueller, 877 S.W.2d 702 (Mo.App.1994), plaintiff filed a petition in five counts. Count V was severed, to be resolved at a later date. A jury trial was held on the other counts. Defendants sought to appeal from the judgment based on the verdict. The purported judgment did not dispose of the severed Count V. The court of appeals held that the trial court’s order was not a final judgment and dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The court said, at 708-704:
“The judgment appealed from contains no determination that there is ‘no just reason for delay.’ During oral argument, the parties argued that because Count V was severed, this court may consider the remaining portion of the trial court’s judgment. Severance of a claim so that it may be resolved at a later date does not constitute an adjudication, nor is it equivalent to an express finding that there is no just reason for delay as considered in Ride 74.01(b).”
The majority opinion, as I understand it, holds that the instant judgment disposes of all claims and all parties. So viewed, the majority opinion is not inconsistent with Col-ton.