Post-Trial Procedure

Relief from judgment or order

—court can relieve party of final judgment within reasonable time and no later than one year following judgment entry for (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence (not previously discovered through reasonable diligence); or (3) fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct by opposing party

Other remedies—court may also:

• Entertain independent action to relieve party from order, judgment, or proceeding

• Grant relief to defendant who was not personally notified of action

• Set aside judgment for fraud on court

Notice of appeal

—generally must be filed with district clerk within 30 days after judgment or order being appealed is entered

• DE Distinction—default deadline for filing notice of appeal with DE Supreme Court is 30 days after entry of judgment or order party wishes to appeal

• DE Point of Law—on petitioner’s motion, trial courts have discretion to grant stays or injunctions pending appeal after weighing success likelihood, irreparable injury, harm to others, and public interest

Final judgment rule

—federal courts of appeals have jurisdiction over appeals of final judgments of district courts

• If more than one claim is presented in case or there are multiple parties, district court may direct entry of final judgment as to one or more issues or parties, but only if court expressly determines there is no just reason for delay

Final Judgment Rule - DE

• DE Point of Law—parties seeking interlocutory appeal must apply for certification within 10 days; to qualify, order must decide substantial material issue and establish legal right; trial court must refuse certification if benefits of immediate appeal do not clearly outweigh costs; filing of application for certification does not toll time period for filing notice of appeal

• DE Distinction—appellees in extraordinary writ appeals may move to affirm within 10 days if appeal lacks merit because of settled law, evidence, or discretion, tolling briefing deadline.

Standards of review

• Review of trial court’s factual findings—clearly erroneous

• Review of legal rulings—de novo • Review of discretionary rulings—abuse of discretion

• Review of jury verdict—varies among jurisdictions

• DE Point of Law—Court of Common Pleas hears Justice of the Peace appeals de novo; Superior Court hears Alderman’s and JP appeals de novo, but reviews Common Pleas decisions on record (legal questions de novo, factual findings for substantial evidence)

Full faith and credit

—if valid judgment is rendered by court that has jurisdiction over parties and parties receive proper notice of action and reasonable opportunity to be heard, judgment will receive same effect in other states as state where it was rendered

Claim preclusion (res judicata) - Valid final judgment on merits

• Valid final judgment on merits—court must have personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction, defendant must have had proper notice and opportunity to be heard, court must have nothing further to do but order entry of judgment, and decision must be made on merits of claim or defense (rather than technical grounds)

Claim preclusion (res judicata) - Sufficiently identical claims

Sufficiently identical claims—original and later-filed claim must be sufficiently identical to be barred under claim preclusion (federal transactional approach)

Claim preclusion (res judicata) - Sufficiently identical parties

Sufficiently identical parties—plaintiff and defendant must be the same, and in same roles, in both original action and subsequently filed action

Issue preclusion (collateral estoppel)—offensive use may be permitted

Requirements

• Same issue—facts relevant to particular issue and applicable law must be identical

• Actually litigated—issue must have been actually litigated in prior action

• Final, valid judgment—first determination of issue was within authority of court that decided it, and determination was made in final decision on merits

• Essential to judgment—issue that constitutes necessary component of decision reached will be considered essential

Criminal prosecution - For prosecution (preclusion)

For prosecution (preclusion)—issues determined in criminal prosecution for prosecution are generally preclusive in civil action against defendant based on same conduct

Criminal prosecution - For defendant (no preclusion)

For defendant (no preclusion)—issues determined in a criminal prosecution in favor of defendant are not preclusive in civil action against defendant based on same conduct, because plaintiff in civil action was not party to criminal prosecution