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APPEAL
FROM THE FRANKLIN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 24OCV-12-97],
HONORABLE DENNIS CHARLES SUTTERFIELD, JUDGE
Lucas
Law, PLLC, by: Molly E. Lucas; and Marcus Vaden, for
appellant.
Robbins
Law Firm, by: Kevin N. Jones and Michael S. Robbins,
Russellville, for appellees.
OPINION
KAREN
R. BAKER, Associate Justice
Appellant, Debbie Worsham, returns to this court for a second
time, challenging the Franklin County Circuit Courts denial
of her motion for attorneys fees and costs. This case has an
extensive procedural history. Litigation began in 2012 when
Worsham filed suit against the appellees, Roy and Teresa Day,
alleging breach of contract related to the sale of a liquor
store. In 2015, a jury awarded Worsham damages, and the
circuit court granted the Days motion for new trial. Worsham
appealed to the court of appeals, which remanded the matter
to the circuit court to settle and supplement the record.
Worsham v. Day, 2016 Ark.App. 262, 2016 WL 2858469
("Worsham I "). In 2017, the appeal
returned to the court of appeals and we certified the case to
this court. We dismissed Worshams appeal for lack of
appellate jurisdiction and the jurys verdict remained
intact. Worsham v. Day, 2017 Ark. 192, 519 S.W.3d
699 ("
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Worsham II "). In Worsham II, we
recounted the procedural history of this case as follows:
On July 25, 2012, Worsham filed a complaint for breach of
contract against the Days.
....
The jury trial was held on March 10 and 11, 2015, and the
jury found for Worsham on her claim for breach of contract,
awarding her $ 115,000 in damages.
....
On March 23, 2015, the Days filed a motion for JNOV or for a
new trial.
....
The circuit court held a hearing on the motion for JNOV or
for a new trial on July 14, 2015. The court then entered an
order granting the motion on July 21, 2015, finding that the
jury verdicts were improper and inconsistent and that they
should be set aside in favor of granting a new trial. On
August 3, 2015, Worsham filed a motion to reconsider the
circuit courts order, which was denied. Worsham then filed a
timely notice of appeal and amended notice of appeal from the
circuit courts orders granting a new trial and denying her
motion to reconsider.
On appeal, the court of appeals remanded this case to settle
and supplement the record because there was no written
judgment in the record or addendum from the circuit court
reflecting the jurys verdicts. Worsham [I ]. Following the
court of appeals opinion, Worsham filed a motion to enter
judgment on May 19, 2016. On May 25, 2016, the circuit court
entered a "Judgment Upon Jury Verdict," which was
consistent with the jurys verdicts. Worsham then filed a
supplemental record with the court of appeals containing this
judgment, and we accepted certification of this appeal on
March 17, 2017.
Upon
review, we ultimately dismissed the appeal for lack of
appellate jurisdiction and explained:
While the jury-verdict forms were filed, there was no
judgment on the jurys verdict entered until May 25, 2016.
Arkansas Rule of Civil Procedure 58 (2016) provides that
every judgment or decree shall be set forth on a separate
document and that a judgment is effective only when entered
in accordance with Administrative Order Number 2.
Administrative Order Number 2 states that the clerk shall
denote the date and time that a judgment is filed by stamping
or otherwise marking it with the date and time and the word
"filed" and that a judgment is entered when so
stamped or marked by the clerk. Ark. S.Ct. Admin. Order No. 2
(2016).
Pursuant to Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure 50(b)(2) and
59(b), the Days March 23, 2015 motion for JNOV or for a new
trial was treated as filed on May 26, 2016, the day after the
circuit court entered the judgment. However, there was no
order by the circuit court granting this posttrial motion
subsequent to the entry of the judgment on May 25, 2016. A
circuit courts order granting a new trial is a nullity where
a valid judgment has not yet been entered. See,
e.g., State v. Richardson, 2009 Ark. 206,
306 S.W.3d 11 (holding that a motion for new trial was
ineffective in the absence of a valid judgment and commitment
order, thus depriving the circuit court of any basis in law
for granting the motion and rendering its order granting a
new trial a nullity). Under Arkansas Rule of Appellate
Procedure— Civil 4(b)(1), the Days posttrial motion
was deemed denied thirty days after its May 26, 2016 filing
date. Neither party filed a notice of appeal or amended
notice of appeal after the judgment was entered, and,
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accordingly, we have no timely and effective notice of appeal
from the disposition of the posttrial motion. Therefore, we
must dismiss this ...