Appellate Law

Non-Final Judgments Will Not Support Appeal

By Ivan B. Cooper

The well-settled rule that a non-final judgment will not support an appeal resulted in two appeals being dismissed by the Court of Civil Appeals.  In both Faulk v. Rhodes, [Ms. 2081005] (Ala. Civ. App. Feb 3, 2010), and Sexton v. Sexton, [Ms. 2080852] (Ala. Civ. App. Feb. 5, 2010), the Court of Civil Appeals determined that claims were left unresolved in the trial court.  Because judgments are final only if the judgment resolves all claims of all parties, and there were no certification of finality pursuant to Ala. R. Civ. P. 54(b), the appeals had to be dismissed as being from non-final judgments.

Full post as published by Alabama Appellate Watch on February 12, 2010 (boomark / email).