Court Opinion

ID: 9927945
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-30 16:12:50.966244+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:32:10.624152
License: Public Domain

Supreme Court

                                                     No. 2022-306-Appeal.
                                                     (PC 17-1108)

 Andre Howell, in his capacity as      :
 Treasurer of the Urban League of
        Rhode Island, Inc.

                v.                     :

Urban League of Rhode Island, Inc.     :

          NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision
          before publication in the Rhode Island Reporter. Readers
          are requested to notify the Opinion Analyst, Supreme
          Court of Rhode Island, 250 Benefit Street, Providence,
          Rhode Island 02903, at Telephone (401) 222-3258 or
          Email opinionanalyst@courts.ri.gov, of any typographical
          or other formal errors in order that corrections may be
          made before the opinion is published.
                                                           Supreme Court

                                                           No. 2022-306-Appeal.
                                                           (PC 17-1108)

     Andre Howell, in his capacity as    :
     Treasurer of the Urban League of
            Rhode Island, Inc.

                    v.                   :

    Urban League of Rhode Island, Inc.   :

        Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Robinson, Lynch Prata, and Long, JJ.

                                   OPINION

        Justice Robinson, for the Court. The appellant, Julie Longtin, appeals from

a September 9, 2022 order of the Superior Court denying her motion based on Rule

60(b) of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure, in which she sought relief from

the order of June 30, 2022 that denied her proof of claim in a receivership proceeding

on the grounds that she lacked standing.1 Ms. Longtin contends that the hearing

justice erred in denying her Rule 60(b) motion because (1) the hearing justice

overlooked and misconceived the evidence and (2) because the hearing justice

“misapplied” the statute at issue (G.L. 1956 § 34-49-3), construing it in a manner

1
      Although at one point during oral argument on the motion, Ms. Longtin’s
counsel seemed to limit his argument to Rule 60(b)(6) of the Superior Court Rules
of Civil Procedure, it can be inferred from the entire record that he also sought to
invoke Rule 60(b)(1). Accordingly, we shall address both of those subsections of
Rule 60(b).
                                         -1-
that resulted in “an absurd result.”

      This case came before the Supreme Court pursuant to an order directing the

parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be

summarily decided. After considering the parties’ written and oral submissions and

after carefully reviewing the record, we are of the opinion that cause has not been

shown and that this case may be decided without further briefing or argument. For

the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the order of the Superior Court.

                                          I

                                  Facts and Travel

      On March 9, 2017, plaintiff Andre Howell, in his capacity as treasurer of the

Urban League of Rhode Island, Inc. (Urban League), filed a petition in the Superior

Court seeking the appointment of a receiver for the Urban League. On April 21,

2017, an attorney was appointed as the permanent receiver.

      On July 17, 2017, appellant filed a proof of claim in the receivership

proceeding, stating that she was “individually making this claim” for the amount

allegedly “due to [her] former company.” The appellant indicated in her proof of

claim that said “former company” was “Antari Properties, LLC” (Antari),2 which

company she alleged had “entered into a binding Exclusive Right to Sell/Listing

2
     Antari’s corporate charter was revoked by the Secretary of State on June 1,
2015—i.e., long before the receivership proceeding was commenced.

                                         -2-
Authorization Agreement * * * to list” the Urban League’s real property located at

246 Prairie Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island. She further alleged that, in view

of the fact that she had been “the sole member/owner of Antari,” she was entitled to

a sales commission because she had found a ready, willing, and able buyer. The

hearing justice carefully considered the factual and legal arguments relative to

appellant’s proof of claim and then denied same in an order entered on June 30,

2022. The appellant’s proof of claim was denied on the grounds that she lacked

standing to make a claim.3 The June 30 order explicitly stated: “Claimant lacks

standing to assert a proof of claim in this matter.”

      On July 20, 2022, appellant filed a motion pursuant to Rule 60(b) seeking

relief from the June 30, 2022 order.4 In support of her motion, appellant presented

3
       The hearing justice stated that the basis for his ruling was the fact that Ms.
Longtin had “presented absolutely no evidence to support the contentions contained
in her Proof of Claim * * *.”
4
      On August 24, 2022 (several weeks after she filed her Rule 60(b) motion),
Ms. Longtin filed a notice of appeal of the June 30 order. On October 11, 2022, the
receiver filed a motion to dismiss the appeal, contending that the appeal was
untimely. Ms. Longtin objected to that motion, contending that the June 30 order
was interlocutory and therefore did not have to be appealed from within twenty days
from the entry of the order. In any event, the motion to dismiss the appeal was
granted by this Court on December 16, 2022.
      We need not decide in the context of this case whether the June 30 order was
appealable when said order was entered, although we do note that the June 30 denial
of appellant’s proof of claim was certainly final as to her. See generally McAuslan
v. McAuslan, 34 R.I. 462, 83 A. 837 (1912). The plain, blunt fact is that appellant
deliberately opted to file an appeal and that that appeal was in due course dismissed.
                                         -3-
the hearing justice with a legal argument as to why (in her view) he erred in issuing

the June 30, 2022 order, which had denied her proof of claim for lack of standing.

On August 2, 2022, a hearing was held on Ms. Longtin’s Rule 60(b) motion. The

hearing justice found that Ms. Longtin had not demonstrated excusable neglect or

pointed to new evidence. He also found that all the facts alluded to in the Rule 60(b)

motion had been available to her before she filed the motion. Accordingly, the

hearing justice concluded that Rule 60(b) relief was not warranted. On September

9, 2022, the order denying appellant’s Rule 60(b) motion was entered, and she

thereafter filed a timely notice of appeal from that order.

                                          II

                                Standard of Review

      Our review of a Rule 60(b) motion “is limited to examining the correctness of

the order granting or denying the motion, not the correctness of the original

judgment.” Santos v. D. Laikos, Inc., 139 A.3d 394, 398 (R.I. 2016) (quoting Ryan

v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence, 941 A.2d 174, 187 (R.I. 2008)).

      We have also clearly stated that “Rule 60(b) does not constitute a vehicle for

the motion justice to reconsider the previous judgments in light of later-discovered

legal authority * * *.” Jackson v. Medical Coaches, 734 A.2d 502, 505 (R.I. 1999).

A Rule 60(b) motion is addressed to a hearing justice’s sound discretion, and we will

not ordinarily overturn a ruling with respect to such a motion unless there has been

                                         -4-
an abuse of discretion. See McLaughlin v. Zoning Board of Review of Town of

Tiverton, 186 A.3d 597, 606 (R.I. 2018).

                                          III

                                      Analysis

      On appeal, appellant argues that her Rule 60(b) motion should have been

granted, contending that, when he denied her proof of claim, the hearing justice

“overlooked and misconceived the evidence” and that he “misapplied the statute,”

construing it in a manner that resulted in “an absurd result.” However, it is not the

ruling on appellant’s proof of claim in the receivership action that is properly before

us, but rather the hearing justice’s denial of appellant’s motion for relief under Rule

60(b). Therefore, we limit our review to the correctness of the hearing justice’s

denial of the Rule 60(b) motion.

      At the hearing on her Rule 60(b) motion, appellant’s counsel implicitly

invoked Rule 60(b)(1) by arguing that the June 30, 2022 order was the result of what

he characterized as “a natural mistake of law” and “a justifiable mistake” on the part

of the hearing justice because (in counsel’s view) the statute, applied as it was

written, led to “an absurd result.”

      Rule 60(b)(1) provides the hearing justice with discretionary authority to

relieve an appellant from an order because of “[m]istake, inadvertence, surprise, or

                                         -5-
excusable neglect.”5 However, we have held that a mistake of law “is not the kind

of ‘mistake’ that is included within the coverage of that term as it is used in Rule

60(b)(1).” Jackson, 734 A.2d at 507; see Allstate Insurance Company v. Lombardi,

773 A.2d 864, 870 (R.I. 2001); see also Robert B. Kent et al., Rhode Island Civil

Procedure § 60:3, I-575 (West 2022). Accordingly, we perceive absolutely no abuse

of discretion in the hearing justice’s denial of relief under Rule 60(b)(1).

      At the hearing on her Rule 60(b) motion, the appellant also invoked Rule

60(b)(6), which authorizes a hearing justice to grant relief from an order for “[a]ny

other reason justifying relief * * *.” However, we have clearly indicated that the

just-quoted phrase “is not intended to constitute a catchall.” Jackson, 734 A.2d at

505 (quoting Bendix Corp. v. Norberg, 122 R.I. 155, 158, 404 A.2d 505, 506 (1979)).

Indeed, we rarely vacate a judgment or an order under Rule 60(b)(6), and we do so

“only in unique circumstances to prevent manifest injustice.” Bailey v. Algonquin

Gas Transmission Company, 788 A.2d 478, 482 (R.I. 2002) (quoting Vitale v.

Elliott, 120 R.I. 328, 332, 387 A.2d 1379, 1382 (1978)); see McLaughlin, 186 A.3d

at 609 (explaining that “circumstances must be extraordinary to justify relief”)

(quoting Allen v. South County Hospital, 945 A.2d 289, 297 (R.I. 2008)). We have

5
      Although appellant’s counsel never explicitly so stated during the lengthy
Rule 60(b) hearing, we infer from the context that he was contending that there had
been excusable neglect on the part of the hearing justice when he interpreted and
applied G.L. 1956 § 34-49-3.
                                         -6-
carefully reviewed the record in this case, giving particular attention to the transcript

of the hearing justice’s exhaustive hearing on the appellant’s Rule 60(b) motion. It

is clear to us, based on our review of the record and of the just-referenced transcript,

that there is nothing unique or extraordinary about this case and nothing about the

June 30, 2022 order that has resulted in manifest injustice. Accordingly, we have no

hesitation in ruling that the hearing justice did not abuse his discretion in denying

the motion for relief under Rule 60(b)(6).

                                           IV

                                      Conclusion

      For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the Superior Court’s order

denying the appellant’s Rule 60(b) motion. The record in this case may be remanded

to the Superior Court.

                                          -7-
                                         STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
                                     SUPREME COURT – CLERK’S OFFICE
                                           Licht Judicial Complex
                                             250 Benefit Street
                                           Providence, RI 02903

                                 OPINION COVER SHEET

                                     Andre Howell, in his capacity as Treasurer of the
Title of Case                        Urban League of Rhode Island, Inc. v. Urban League
                                     of Rhode Island, Inc.
                                     No. 2022-306-Appeal.
Case Number
                                     (PC 17-1108)

Date Opinion Filed                   January 30, 2024

                                     Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Robinson, Lynch Prata, and
Justices
                                     Long, JJ.

Written By                           Associate Justice William P. Robinson III

Source of Appeal                     Providence County Superior Court

Judicial Officer from Lower Court    Associate Justice Brian P. Stern

                                     For Appellant:

                                     Michael J. Gardiner, Esq.
Attorney(s) on Appeal
                                     For Appellee:

                                     Alden Harrington, Esq.

SU-CMS-02A (revised November 2022)