Bevard v. Kelly

739 N.W.2d 243, 15 Neb. Ct. App. 960, 2007 Neb. App. LEXIS 179
CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 25, 2007
DocketA-05-1126
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 739 N.W.2d 243 (Bevard v. Kelly) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bevard v. Kelly, 739 N.W.2d 243, 15 Neb. Ct. App. 960, 2007 Neb. App. LEXIS 179 (Neb. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Carlson, Judge.

INTRODUCTION

In this case, Rickie F. Bevard and Keith Bevard (the Bevards), personal representatives of the estate of Daniel Bevard, Jr. (Daniel), appeal from orders of the district court for Lincoln County granting summary judgment in favor of Neosho Construction Company, Incorporated (Neosho); Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP); and Ritterbush Construction, Inc. (Ritterbush), and dismissing them from the action. For the reasons set forth below, we dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

BACKGROUND

In June 2003, the Bevards filed suit against seven defendants for injuries Daniel sustained in a motor vehicle accident: Tony S. Kelly, doing business as Kelly Construction (Kelly); Scott Fry; Ritterbush; Mann Hay, Co., Inc. (Mann Hay); Wausau Underwriters Insurance Company (Wausau); Neosho; and UP. Subsequently, an eighth defendant, Continental Western Group (Continental), was granted leave to intervene.

The record shows that after the Bevards filed suit, the following occurred: In September 2003, the allegations against Mann Hay and Wausau were stricken from the Bevards’ petition, and a court order reflects this. In April 2005, the trial court granted Ritterbush’s motion for summary judgment and *962 dismissed Ritterbush from the action. On June 28, 2005, the trial court granted a summary judgment motion filed by Neosho and UP and dismissed those two defendants.

On September 19, 2005, the trial court indicated that the upcoming trial as to Kelly, Fry, and Continental was canceled because a settlement had been reached. On the same date, the Bevards filed a dismissal which states, “The Plaintiff dismisses the above captioned proceeding without prejudice.” Also on that date, the Bevards appealed from the court’s orders granting summary judgment in favor of Neosho, UP, and Ritterbush.

On September 26, 2005, the Bevards filed a motion requesting that the court enter an order nunc pro tunc stating the proceedings to be dismissed were those pending against the defendants Kelly, Fry, and Continental and that the court enter an order of dismissal accordingly. On the same date, the court entered an order nunc pro tunc stating that it was dismissing the proceedings against Kelly, Fry, and Continental without prejudice, as requested by the Bevards. The Bevards appeal.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

On appeal, the Bevards contend that the trial court erred in (1) granting Neosho and UP’s motion for summary judgment, (2) finding that Daniel assumed the risk of Neosho’s and UP’s negligence, and (3) overruling the Bevards’ motion for new trial.

ANALYSIS

Neosho and UP argue that this court lacks jurisdiction to hear this appeal, because the dismissal filed by the Bevards on September 19, 2005, was broad enough to operate as a dismissal of the entire action against all defendants. Before reaching the legal issues presented for review, it is the duty of an appellate court to settle jurisdictional issues presented by a case. Betterman v. Department of Motor Vehicles, 273 Neb. 178, 728 N.W.2d 570 (2007).

Specifically, the Bevards’ dismissal states, “The Plaintiff dismisses the above captioned proceeding without prejudice.” The caption lists all eight of the above-named defendants. Neosho and UP argue that because the action was dismissed against all *963 defendants, there was no longer a pending case or controversy from which the Bevards could appeal.

In State v. Dorcey, 256 Neb. 795, 592 N.W.2d 495 (1999), the Nebraska Supreme Court held that the district court had no jurisdiction over the State’s appeal from county court filed after the State voluntarily dismissed the county court proceedings. In Smith v. Lincoln Meadows Homeowners Assn., 267 Neb. 849, 678 N.W.2d 726 (2004), the Nebraska Supreme Court held that a trial court acted beyond its authority when it granted a plaintiff’s motion to dismiss her action without prejudice and allowed the plaintiff to reserve her right to appeal from a partial summary judgment in the defendant’s favor. In short, when a case is voluntarily dismissed by a party, the controversy between the parties upon which a court may act ends. Id.

The Bevards argue that even if their dismissal was broad enough to dismiss all eight defendants, the nunc pro tunc order entered by the court was effective to modify the dismissal so as to specify that the Bevards were dismissing only Kelly, Fry, and Continental. As stated above, after filing the dismissal, the Bevards asked for a nunc pro tunc order stating that the dismissal acted only against Kelly, Fry, and Continental. The trial court then entered a nunc pro tunc order to that effect.

Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-2001(3) (Cum. Supp. 2006), which section is the result of legislative amendments entered in 2000, states, “Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders, or other parts of the record and errors therein arising from oversight or omission may be corrected by the court by an order nunc pro tunc at any time . . . .” The Bevards acknowledge that the error was not that of the court or its clerk, but, rather, their own error in failing to specify that they wished to dismiss only certain defendants. The Bevards contend that their error constitutes an “oversight or omission” and fits squarely within the language of § 25-2001(3). We disagree.

In Roemer v. Maly, 248 Neb. 741, 539 N.W.2d 40 (1995), the Nebraska Supreme Court addressed a similar argument under § 25-2001(3) (Reissue 1989), which allowed the district court to vacate or modify its own judgments or orders after the term in which those judgments or orders were made “for mistake, neglect, or omission of the clerk, or irregularity in *964 obtaining a judgment or order.” Accord § 25-2001(4)(a) (Cum. Supp. 2006).

In Roemer v. Maly, a patient whose medical malpractice action had been dismissed for lack of prosecution brought a motion seeking the reinstatement of her lawsuit under § 25-2001(3) (Reissue 1989). The patient’s suit was dismissed after the court clerk sent the patient an order to show cause as to why her case should not be dismissed and the patient failed to respond. The patient argued that the trial court ought to modify its dismissal of her action, because the clerk had made a mistake in issuing the show cause order. The district court denied the patient’s motion, and the patient appealed.

The Nebraska Supreme Court held that the patient was not entitled to reinstatement of her action, stating that the patient’s argument “ignores our precedent on the issue of ‘mistake’ versus ‘fault.’ ” 248 Neb. at 744, 539 N.W.2d at 44.

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Bluebook (online)
739 N.W.2d 243, 15 Neb. Ct. App. 960, 2007 Neb. App. LEXIS 179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bevard-v-kelly-nebctapp-2007.