Litigation

Deadlines for Appeal From District Court are Different From the Circuit Court Counterpart

By H. William Allen et al.

A hard lesson regarding appellate deadlines was learned in Arkansas State Univ. v. Professional Credit Management, Inc., No. 08-672 (3/19/09).

Professional Credit obtained a judgment against ASU in state district court. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because ASU failed to file the district court record with the circuit court within 30 days of the judgment. Unlike the Rules of Appellate Procedure,  District Court Rule 9(a) expressly states that the 30-day period is not extended by post-trial motions.

Had the appeal been timely filed, the court would have addressed an issue of first impression: whether an employer may be compelled to manage multiple garnishments when an employee's wages are already subject to a previous garnishment to the maximum extent allowed by the Consumer Credit Protection Act.

Full post as published by Arkansas Business Litigation Blog on March 19, 2009 (boomark / email).