Appellate Law

Appellate Court Raises Indispensable Party Issue First Time on Appeal

"The absence of an indispensable party is a jurisdictional defect that renders a proceeding void."  Allbritton v. Dawkins, No. 2080063 (Ala. Civ. App. March 27, 2009).  When a "'final judgment will affect ownership of an interest in real property, all parties claiming an interest in the real property must be joined.'"  Id.  The county is an indispensable party when the parties to a lawsuit ask the court to determine whether a road is public or private.  Because the plaintiffs sought a declaration that Allbritton Lane is a public road, a determination that will affect the rights of the owners of the property underlying the purported easement who were not parties to the lawsuit,  the court of civil appeals did not have jurisdiction over the appeal.  The appellate court remanded the case to the trial court, ordering the trial court to add the proper parties.  The court held that it could decide the indispenable party issue sua sponte on appeal even though the parties did not raise it at the trial cor appellate level because the issue is jurisdictional.

Full post as published by Alabama Appellate Watch on April 05, 2009 (boomark / email).