Appellate Law

Untimely Appeal Dismissed

The pitfalls of Rule 59.1 are on display in Scott v. Lenoir, [Ms. 2040891] (Ala. Civ. App. Sept, 12, 2008), and an appeal was dimsissed as untimely.

In Scott, the appellant timely filed his post-judgment motions, but the trial court did not rule within 90 days.   The trial court purported to rule on the motions after the 90 day deadline of Ala. R. Civ. P. 59.1, and the appellant filed his notice of appeal within 42 days of the ruling.  The Court of Civil Appeals dismissed the appeal as untimely.  The parties did not agree to an extension of time for the trial court to rule as required by Rule 59.1, so the motions were denied by operation of law after 90 days.  The time to appeal began to run as of the date the motions were denied by operation of law and not from the date the trial court purported to rule.  Thus, the appeal was dismissed as untimely.

Full post as published by Alabama Appellate Watch on September 15, 2008 (boomark / email).