Court Opinion

ID: 9571426
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:31:44.532103+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:30:26.401644
License: Public Domain

Clarke, Chief Justice,
concurring.
I concur entirely in the majority opinion. I write this concurrence only to point out that I find no new departure from existing law in that opinion. In my view, the definition of the phrase “lis pendens” controls this case. Black’s Law Dictionary and a long line of legal authority define lis pendens as “a pending suit.” Using this definition, a notice of lis pendens is nothing more nor less than a notice of a pending suit. Once a final judgment is entered and the time for appeal has expired, there is no pending suit and therefore a notice of lis pendens expires. If through one means or another a suit is revived after a final notice, then logic dictates that a new notice of lis pendens is required. The examiner of a record should be asked to look no further than the entry of a final notice plus the period for appeal to rely upon the expiration of a lis pendens notice.