Court Opinion

ID: 9709926
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 03:57:32.356909+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:52.741031
License: Public Domain

*191SUNDBY, J.
(dissenting). Nelson's damages included, by stipulation, a judgment against him by the federal bankruptcy court in the amount of $399,775.43. That amount was trebled under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, and Wisconsin's counterpart, the Wisconsin Organized Crime Control Act (WOCCA), secs. 946.80-946.86, Stats., resulting in a judgment against the defendants (hereafter "Taff") which included the amount of $1,199,326.29. After judgment was entered herein, Nelson settled the bankruptcy court's judgment against him by paying the trustee $16,000 and giving up a claim valued at approximately $700. I conclude that the disparity between Nelson's stipulated damages, especially as trebled, and Nelson's actual damages presents an "extraordinary circumstance" entitling Taff to relief from the judgment under sec. 806.07(l)(h), Stats.1
Section 806.07, Stats., attempts to achieve a balance between the competing values of finality and fairness in the resolution of a dispute. State ex rel. M.L.B. v. D.G.H., 122 Wis. 2d 536, 542, 363 N.W.2d 419, 422 (1985). For assistance in interpreting sec. 806.07(1)(h), Stats., we may refer to Wisconsin cases interpreting the Wisconsin rule and federal cases interpreting Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6), the analogous federal rule.
The United States Supreme Court has construed Rule 60(b)(6) as requiring a showing of "extraordinary *192circumstances" before relief may be granted. Klapprott v. United States, 335 U.S. 601, modified, 336 U.S. 942 (1949); Ackermann v. United States, 340 U.S. 193 (1950). The Wisconsin Supreme Court has adopted that test. M.L.B., 122 Wis. 2d at 549, 363 N.W.2d at 425.
In Ennis v. Ennis, 88 Wis. 2d 82, 91, 276 N.W.2d 341, 344 (Ct. App. 1979) (citing Klapprott, 335 U.S. at 615), we concurred with the federal interpretation that sec. 806.07(l)(h), Stats., "must be liberally construed to allow relief from judgments 'whenever such action is appropriate to accomplish justice.' " Ennis is supported by In re Smith, 82 Wis. 2d 667, 264 N.W.2d 239 (1978), and followed in Conrad v. Conrad, 92 Wis. 2d 407, 284 N.W.2d 674 (1979). In Smith, the court sustained the exercise of the trial court's discretion under sec. 806.07(1)(h) to reopen a judgment entered in the course of a probate proceeding to correct what the tried court considered to have been an erroneous disposition of property. In Conrad, the court sustained the use of sec. 806.07(1) (h) to reopen a divorce judgment to reconsider the property division where the wife did not specifically agree to an oral division of the property and immediately objected to a written order allegedly based on an oral agreement. Thus, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has approved the use of sec. 806.07(1) (h) to grant relief from a judgment where, because of changed circumstances, the interests of justice so require.
This is consistent with the federal courts' interpretation of Rule 60(b)(6). In Kirby Forest Indus., Inc. v. United States, 467 U.S. 1, 17-19 (1984), the Court held that the rule could be used to correct the value of condemned land because of a change in value between the determination of the condemnation commission in 1979, and the date of the taking in 1982.
*193In this case, it cannot be denied that there was an extraordinary change in Nelson's circumstances. At the time of trial, judgment had been entered against him by the federal bankruptcy court in the amount of almost $400,000. The trial court correctly ruled that damages are to be determined at the time of entry of judgment. But, as we have seen, where extraordinary circumstances intervene, the trial court may reopen a judgment to reflect the changed circumstances. In this case, I conclude that the disparity between the damages awarded Nelson because of his assumed liability on the bankruptcy court's judgment, especially as trebled, and his actual damages is so great that the trial court erroneously exercised its discretion when it denied Taff's motion to reopen the judgment to redetermine Nelson's damages. Because of the trebling of Nelson's damages, he •has received a windfall almost beyond belief.2
The jury found that Nelson's "other damages" were $105,000. This amount was also trebled. In addition, Nelson received an award for his attorney fees and expenses of litigation, in the amount of approximately $22,000. Further, I consider it significant that the jury *194did not find that Nelson was entitled to punitive damages. If there ever was a case in which the sanctity of the final judgment is outweighed by "the incessant command of the court's conscience that justice be done in light of all the facts," M.L.B., 122 Wis. 2d at 550, 363 N.W.2d at 426 (quoting Bankers Mortgage Co. v. United States, 423 F.2d 73, 77 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 399 U.S. 927 (1970) (emphasis in original)), this is that case.

 Section 806.07(1) (h) provides:
(1) On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party . . . from a judgment, order or stipulation for the following reasons:
(h) Any other reasons justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.

 The concurrence asserts that if Taff obtains relief from the judgment, he will get a "windfall.” This assertion begs the question. In this sense, any defendant who obtains relief from a judgment gets a "windfall." But that is exactly the purpose of sec. 806.07, Stats. — to grant relief (read "windfall") whenever equitable considerations so dictate. However, it is not the purpose of RICO or WOCCA to allow the trebling of nonexistent damages. Nelson was never damaged in the amount of $399,775.43 as adjudged by the bankruptcy court; he was damaged in the amount of $16,700. Let the trial court exercise its discretion to treble that figure and the "other damages" of $105,000 found by the jury; Nelson ends up with $365,100 which is surely enough to satisfy the purposes of RICO and WOCCA, and, perhaps, to bankrupt Taff.