Ellender v. Schweiker, Docket No. 85-6274

• Citation: 781 F.2d 314
• Decision Date: 15 January 1986
• Docket Number: Docket No. 85-6274
• Parties: , 12 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 150, Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 16,555 Dorothy ELLENDER, Angela Zamski, James Trowbridge, Lois W. Brunjes, and Verley Smith, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs- Appellees, v. Richard W. SCHWEIKER, Margaret M. Heckler, as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, John Svahn, and Martha McSteen, individually and as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)

Page 314

781 F.2d 314

3 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1414, 12 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 150,

Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 16,555

Dorothy ELLENDER, Angela Zamski, James Trowbridge, Lois W.

Brunjes, and Verley Smith, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs- Appellees, v. Richard W. SCHWEIKER, Margaret M. Heckler, as Secretary of

the Department of Health and Human Services, John Svahn, and

Martha McSteen, individually and as Commissioner of the

Social Security Administration, Defendants-Appellants.

Docket No. 85-6274.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued Nov. 12, 1985.

Decided Jan. 15, 1986.

Toby Golick, New York City (Cardozo Bet Tzedek Legal Services, New York City, Joan Mangones, Lester Helfman, The Legal Aid Society, Staten Island, N.Y., John E. Kirklin, Nancy Morawetz, The Legal Aid Society, New York City, on brief), for plaintiffs-appellees.

Steven E. Obus, Asst. U.S. Atty., New York City (Rudolph W. Giuliani, U.S. Atty., S.D.N.Y., Jane E. Booth, Asst. U.S. Atty., New York City, on brief), for defendants-appellants.

Before TIMBERS, KEARSE and PRATT, Circuit Judges.

KEARSE, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs-appellees Dorothy Ellender, et al., in this action brought to challenge certain practices of defendants-appellants Richard W. Schweiker, as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, et al. (collectively the "Secretary"), have moved to dismiss the Secretary's appeal insofar as it seeks review of a decision of the district court, Irving Ben Cooper, Judge, reported at 575 F.Supp. 590 (S.D.N.Y. 1983). Plaintiffs contend that a final judgment was entered in the action no later than January 4, 1985, that no notice of appeal was filed by the Secretary until more than 60 days thereafter, and that this Court thus lacks jurisdiction of the present appeal insofar as it seeks review of that final judgment or any prior order. We agree and grant the motion.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs commenced this action in 1982 to challenge a program of the Secretary to recover alleged overpayments of supplemental security income ("SSI") benefits from certain former SSI recipients. They contended that the recovery program was unlawful and that the notices sent by the government were constitutionally deficient, and they sought declaratory and injunctive relief, money damages, and attorneys' fees. Plaintiffs successfully moved for partial summary judgment, and on November 17, 1983, Judge Cooper entered a memorandum and order that permanently enjoined the challenged practices ("November 1983 Order"). The Secretary, who earlier had been temporarily restrained from continuing the challenged practices, complied with the November 1983 Order. The Secretary made no attempt to obtain immediate appellate review of that order.

The November 1983 Order left outstanding claims by plaintiffs for monetary relief and attorneys' fees. Plaintiffs promptly moved for an award of fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2412(d) (1982). The court granted the motion in part in April 1984 and directed the parties to negotiate the amount of fees to be paid. The parties reached agreement on amount, and a stipulation was so-ordered by the court in July 1984. Assistant United States Attorney Steven Obus then informed plaintiffs' counsel that no payment of the agreed fees would be made prior to entry of a judgment ordering such payment. Plaintiffs' counsel pointed out that plaintiffs still had individual damage claims outstanding but advised Obus that Plaintiffs then conferred with the clerk of the court in an attempt to have a judgment entered ordering the Secretary to pay the agreed-upon fees. After plaintiffs had submitted to the clerk the court's opinion awarding fees, the so-ordered stipulation as to amount, and a judgment form in accordance with the Appendix of Forms annexed to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, these papers apparently were submitted to Judge Cooper, who signed a judgment dated January 4, 1985 ("Judgment"), which read as follows:

she did not believe plaintiffs would pursue these claims. Thereafter, the parties stipulated that all of plaintiffs' remaining claims would be discontinued and dismissed, and this stipulation was so-ordered and entered on December 19, 1984 ("December 1984 Order").

Upon the annexed opinion and order of the Court entered April 12, 1984 and the annexed stipulation and order entered July 20, 1984 it is

Adjudged that the plaintiffs' counsel do have and recover of the defendants the sum of $40,734.30.

Judge Cooper sent the Judgment to the clerk of the court, accompanied by a memorandum that read as follows:

This judgment closes this case. If for any reason this action cannot be closed, please advise Chambers immediately by calling Law Clerk at Ext. 0972. Thank you.

The clerk noted in the civil docket for January 3, 1985, the entry of a "JUDGMENT" and described the substance of the Judgment. The docket entries contain the further notation "m/c", which is the clerk's abbreviation for "mailed copies", indicating that copies of the Judgment were mailed to counsel for the parties. The New York Law Journal for January 8, 1985, contained a notice that an order had been signed in this case.

The government attorneys, however, apparently did not become aware of the entry of the January 4, 1985 Judgment until March 8, 1985, some 64 days after the date of its entry. On March 28, the Secretary moved pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) for vacation of the January 4 Judgment and for entry of a new judgment that would expressly mention, inter alia, each of the dispositions made of plaintiffs' claims. The court denied the motion to vacate on July 19, 1985, and eventually denied the motion for entry of a new judgment as proposed by the Secretary. On September 17, 1985, the Secretary filed the present notice of appeal, seeking review of, inter alia, the November 1983 Order and the July 1985 denial of the motion to vacate the January 4, 1985 Judgment.

Plaintiffs contend that the final judgment in the action was the December 1984 Order, since that disposed of all outstanding claims that were not collateral to the merits of the case, or, alternatively, that the January 4, 1985 Judgment was the final judgment. In either event, plaintiffs contend that this Court has no jurisdiction to entertain the Secretary's challenge to the November 1983 Order since no notice of appeal was filed until September 1985. While the December 1984 Order technically may not meet the requirements for a final judgment, we conclude that the January 4, 1985 Judgment was a final judgment. As that Judgment was entered more than 60 days prior to the Secretary's filing of his notice of appeal, we agree with plaintiffs that we lack jurisdiction to entertain an appeal challenging the Judgment or any orders that preceded it.

DISCUSSION

Section 1291 of 28 U.S.C. provides that the courts of appeals have jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of the district courts. In a civil case in which an officer or agency of the United States is a party, any appeal from a final judgment must be brought within 60 days after entry of such judgment. Fed.R.App.P. 4(a). If notice of appeal is not filed within the time specified by Fed.R.App.P. 4, the court of appeals lacks jurisdiction to hear the appeal. Browder v. Director, Department of Corrections, 434 U.S. 257, 264, 98 S.Ct. 556, 560, 54 L.Ed.2d 521 (1978); In re Cosmopolitan Rule 58 requires that every judgment be set forth on a separate document, and it provides that a judgment is not effective unless entered as provided in Fed.R.Civ.P. 79(a). Rule 79(a) provides, in pertinent part, that the clerk of the court is to enter a judgment in the civil docket for the case, briefly showing its substance and date of entry. The purpose of these requirements is to enable a party to know when the court regards the case as closed and intends that no further action be taken, and thus to know when the time to appeal has commenced to run. Bankers Trust Co. v. Mallis, 435 U.S. 381, 384-86, 98 S.Ct. 1117, 1119-21, 55 L.Ed.2d 357 (1978) (per curiam); Leonhard v. United States, 633 F.2d 599, 611 (2d Cir.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 908, 101 S.Ct. 1975, 68 L.Ed.2d 295 (1981).

Aviation Corp., 763 F.2d 507, 514 (2d Cir.1985). The questions on this motion are whether either the December Order or the January 4, 1985 Judgment was a "judgment" within the meaning of Fed.R.Civ.P. 58, and if either was, whether it was a "final" judgment within the meaning of Sec. 1291.

The December 1984 Order, which disposed of the last of the noncollateral claims in the case, could properly have led to the entry of a final judgment. See White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, 455 U.S. 445, 452 n. 14, 102 S.Ct. 1162, 1167 n. 14, 71 L.Ed.2d 325 (1982) (judgment disposing of all claims except statutory entitlement to attorneys' fees is final for purposes of appealability). It is unclear, however, whether the December 1984 Order itself should be considered a judgment in compliance with Rule 58, since the court's order was merely endorsed on a stipulation and was not set forth in a separate document. We are inclined to believe that the December 1984 Order did not meet the requirements of Rule 58.

The January 4, 1985 Judgment, however, met all of the requirements of Rules 58 and 79(a). It was set out in a separate document, and its...