Motion for Relief from Judgment (Federal Civil Procedure)

A motion for relief from judgment is one of the many motions tested in Federal Civil Procedure on the MBE. As with all motions, there are very specific elements to know. Most likely to be tested are the grounds for bringing this motion.

First, it's worth knowing that a clerical error may be corrected at any time on motion of the court or any party. A motion to to amend a final order may be brought under the following circumstances: new evidence has been discovered that was not previously available; there has been an intervening change in controlling law; there is a need to correct a clear error of law or fact; or there is a need to prevent manifest injustice. 

This motion to amend a final order must be brought within 28 days of the order to which the motion is attacking. All is not lost after 28 days, however. At that point a party must seek relief from judgment or appeal the order. On motion, a party may receive relief from final judgment for any of the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence that by due diligence could have been been discovered in time to move for a new trial; (3) fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) a claim that the judgment is void such that there was a fundamental flaw or deprivation of due process; (5) a claim that it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; (6) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or (6) any other reason justifying relief from judgment. That last one is sort of a "catch-all" provision giving quite a bit of flexibility in granting the motion for relief from judgement.

For claims 1, 2, and 3, the motion must be made within a reasonable time not to exceed one year; for other grounds (4, 5, and 6), the motion must be made within a reasonable time. Also worth noting that a court can also use its own discretion in an independent action to relieve a party from a judgment or order. An advantage of this independent action is that the time limits stated above do not apply. However, if a motion to set aside the judgment (as outlined above) has already been rejected, an independent action to do the same must be rejected as well.