URS BEAT MUMENTHALER, APPELLANT,
v.
MICHAEL BOREN WILLIAMS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CREATIVE ARTS, INC., APPELLEES
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Appellant Mumenthaler challenges an amended final judgment entered over one year after the original judgment. The court reversed the amended judgment because the trial court lacked jurisdiction to grant a Rule 1.540(b) motion filed more than one year after the original judgment was entered, though the original $1.6 million judgment remained valid and enforceable.
The trial court lacked jurisdiction to amend the judgment because the Rule 1.540(b)(1) motion was filed more than one year after the judgment was entered, exceeding the one-year deadline for seeking relief on grounds of mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. The amended judgment was therefore reversed, though the original $1.6 million judgment remained valid and unappealable.
[1] A motion for relief from judgment under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b)(1) must be filed within one year of the judgment's entry.
[2] A trial court lacks jurisdiction to grant relief from judgment under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b)(1) when the motion is filed more than one year after the jud…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A motion under Rule 1.540(b)(1) must be filed 'not more than 1 year after the judgment, decree, order, or proceeding was entered or taken.' As the motion was filed more than one year after the judgment was entered, the trial court was without jurisdiction to amend the judgment.”
Establishes the jurisdictional basis for reversal—the motion was time-barred under Rule 1.540(b)(1)
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePlaintiffs Michael Williams and the University of the Creative Arts sued defendant Urs Beat Mumenthaler for money damages. A jury trial on damages pro…
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This is an appeal of an amended final judgment entered on the basis of a motion filed by plaintiffs-appellees under Florida Rule of Civil of Procedure 1.540(b). We conclude that the amended final judgment (but not the original final judgment) must be reversed.
Plaintiffs-appellees Michael Williams and the University of the Creative Arts, *960Inc. sued defendant-appellant Urs Beat Mumenthaler, a Swiss national, for money damages. The case proceeded to a jury trial on damages which Mumenthaler did not attend. On May 9, 2008, the trial court entered a final judgment against Mu-menthaler for $1.6 million. The final judgment contained the words of finality, “for which let execution issue.” Mumenthaler did not appeal.
Approximately one year and four months later, the plaintiffs filed a motion under Rule 1.540(b), seeking to amend the final judgment. The plaintiffs’ motion alleged that Swiss counsel advised them that the judgment would not be enforceable under Swiss law because the judgment did not state that it was “final, absolute, and unappealable.” *
The trial court entered an amended judgment stating in substance that there had been no appeal and that the 2008 final judgment was now absolute, final, and/or unappealable. Mumenthaler has appealed the amended final judgment.
It is clear that the plaintiffs relied on Rule 1.540(b)(1) for their motion for relief from judgment. Subdivision (b)(1) allows relief from judgment on account of “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect[.]” A motion under Rule 1.540(b)(1) must be filed “not more than 1 year after the judgment, decree, order, or proceeding was entered or taken.” As the motion was filed more than one year after the judgment was entered, the trial court was without jurisdiction to amend the judgment. For that procedural reason, we reverse the amended judgment. The original judgment, of course, remains intact.
So that there will be no misunderstanding, we point out that the original $1.6 million judgment has now, by the passage of time, become final, absolute, and unap-pealable. That is so because Mumenthaler did not file any timely postjudgment motion or notice of appeal after entry of the 2008 judgment. The fact that the 2008 judgment is final and unappealable is not disputed by either side.
For the stated reasons, the amended final judgment is reversed.
Reversed.