Court Opinion

ID: 9775030
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:41:08.998879+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:19.097634
License: Public Domain

BLACKMAR, Judge,
concurring.
I wholly concur in Judge Holstein’s opinion and write additionally only to suggest that attorneys who find themselves in the procedural situation described in Part 1 of the opinion may foreclose all questions of appealability by presenting a form of order to the trial court stating that the case has been disposed of as to all parties and all claims. The appellant could have done this at the time the remaining claims were voluntarily dismissed, or the defendant could have sought the order to assure the client that the case was at an end. The order does not necessarily have to state that the judgment is final for purposes of appeal. That is the consequence of an order which disposes of all remaining parties and claims.
Although it would be desirable to have an order of this kind in the record, the consequences of requiring such an order as a condition of finality and appealability are unacceptable. In the present case, if the order dismissing the case as to the respondent did not become appealable immediately when plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the remaining defendants the case might pend for years without a final judgment. If the judgment is not final, the time for appeal does not run. Thus cases long considered dead might be resurrected.
If all remaining parties and issues are disposed by action of the court, the judgment, whether prepared by the court or counsel, could contain an appropriate recital. But counsel cannot depend on the court and its attaches to reflect the state of the record, especially with regard to the dismissal of parties, which may be effected simply by the filing of papers and need not be brought to the judge’s attention. See State ex rel. Fisher v. McKenzie, 754 S.W.2d 557 (Mo. banc 1988).
I agree that Bolin v. Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance Company, 549 S.W.2d 886 (Mo. banc 1977), must be overruled.