The Arkansas Supreme Court issued one opinion yesterday, and approved the Sixth Judicial Circuit's administrative plan. On Wednesday the Arkansas Court of Appeals handed down seventeen opinions. Some of the latter court's decisions shed light on appellate practice and procedure; two are summarized here.
In Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange v. Adams, 2024 Ark. App. 571, the trial court sanctioned Privilege and required it to pay a "sanction fee," attorney's fees, and costs. Privilege appealed this order. Although Adams argued that the appeal lacked finality, so that the court lacked jurisdiction, the court found that the appeal was proper under Ark. R. App. P.-Civ. 2(a)(13) since it imposed sanctions and finally disposed of the contempt issue. Without the imposition of sanctions, the order would not have been final and appealable. If the order had merely announced the trial court's determination of the parties' rights, yet contemplated further action, it would not have been appealable.
Baker, et al. v. Adams, et al., 2024 Ark. App. 577, involves an unfortunate set of facts. The Plaintiffs moved to dismiss their amended complaint without prejudice under Ark. R. Civ. P. 41(a). The Defendants responded with a motion to dismiss with prejudice based on alleged fraud. The trial court denied the Plaintiffs' motion and granted the Defendants' motion. The Plaintiffs appealed, but at one point questioned whether the trial court's order was final, since two Defendants had previously been dismissed without prejudice. The Court of Appeals noted its distinction between dismissal of a claim without prejudice and dismissal of a party without prejudice - as to the latter, dismissal with or without prejudice is sufficient to obtain finality, so the case was final as to those two parties, too. The court ultimately reversed the trial court, finding that the Plaintiffs had an absolute right to dismiss their case under Rule 41(a).
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