USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jason W. Myatt, Ankita Ritwik and Charline Yim, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments Each state maintains its own rules of civil procedure, but the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure serve as an effective guide for judgment creditors’ enforcement options. For the purposes of this guide, it has gener - ally been assumed that the proceedings are occurring in federal court. Under Rule 62 (a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Proce - dure, enforcement of a final money judgment is auto - matically stayed for 30 days after entry, which allows the losing party time to challenge enforcement by fil - ing (i) post-judgment motions before the original trial court and/or (ii) a notice of appeal. Many, but not all, states have similar temporary stays of enforcement. One notable example is New York, where, absent an order to the contrary, state court money judgments are immediately enforceable. Where an appeal is initiated, a money judgment is not automatically stayed absent the payment of an appeal bond (also known as a supersedeas bond, generally in an amount equal to the judgment amount plus post-judgment interest) (Fed. R. Civ. P. 62 (b)). Debtors may also seek stays of enforcement without posting a bond by filing a motion, but absent alterna - tive security such requests are disfavoured and are routinely denied. Post-Judgment Motions These may include the following. • Request for New Trial or Altered Judgment – Within 28 days of the completion of a trial, debtors may request that the court grant a new trial for issues such as jury misconduct, newly discovered evi - dence or prejudicial errors in the procedure of the court itself (Fed. R. Civ. P. 59). • Motion to Set Aside or Vacate Judgment – Under Rule 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a debtor can argue that a judgment should be set aside or vacated for the following reasons: (a) an inadvertent mistake or excusable neglect in missing a filing or service deadline (Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 (b)(1)); (b) newly discovered evidence that could change the case’s outcome (Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 (b)(2));
(c) fraud or misconduct, such as perjury or con - cealing material facts, that affected the out - come (Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 (b)(3)); (d) a void judgment due to the court’s lack of juris - diction (Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 (b)(4)); (e) the judgment has already been satisfied through payment or is no longer equitable due to changes in the law (Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 (b)(5)); and (f) a limited, “catch-all” reason for extraordinary circumstances (Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 (b)(6)). Any motion to set aside or vacate a judgment must be brought within a reasonable time, and in the case of motions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 (b)(1)–(b)(3) within one year of entry of the challenged judgment. Appeals In the US, there is a tiered system of appeals for all domestic judgments. Parties in trial courts (known as “district courts”) may appeal to the intermedi - ary appellate court, typically known as a “court of appeals” or the “circuit court” (if federal). Intermediate appellate courts are generally obligated to accept an appeal. Appellate courts are unable to expand upon the trial record. Instead, appellate courts review the existing record to determine whether: • a procedural issue worthy of overturning the lower court’s verdict occurred; • there was an error in the application of law; or • a party’s constitutional rights were violated. Where the issue on appeal is purely one of law, appel - late courts may apply the relevant legal standards to the existing record independently to determine if the judge made an error in their judgment (known as a “de novo” review). Deference is typically given to lower courts’ determinations with respect to questions of fact, with many appeals requiring a showing of “clear error” to overturn a decision from a lower court. And certain questions may require a finding that the lower court abused its discretion, an even higher standard of review. If parties are unsatisfied with the first appellate judg - ment, they may submit a further notice of appeal to
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