Arkansas Business Litigation Lawyer & Attorney : Allen Law Firm : Serving Little Rock, Fort Smith, North Little Rock

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This is the first of three posts on Francis v. Protective Life Insurance Company, No. 07-206. In this case the Arkansas Supreme Court, per Justice Imber, reversed the court of appeals and dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction, holding that the appellant's notice of appeal was filed too late.

The widow plaintiff sued Protective Life after it denied her claim under a credit life insurance policy sold in connection with a retail installment contract for an automobile. She also sued Chrysler, who bought the retail installment contract from the original dealership. Chrysler counter-claimed for the balance owed under the contract. Johnson County Circuit Judge John S. Patterson granted summary judgment in favor of the insurance company and also granted Chrysler summary judgment for its claim against the plaintiff. 

A series of orders granting Chrysler's summary judgment motion were entered in the case:

November 1, 2005: Circuit court enters order granting Chrysler's summary-judgment motion. The Order contains a serious error: it grants a motion to dismiss, not a motion for summary judgment--whoever prepared the order apparently cut-and-pasted from an earlier order entered in the case.

November 3, 2005: An amended and substituted order fax-filed by the Court. The order grants the proper relief but still contains a mistake: the interest rate of the judgment was set at ten percent (10%).

November 10, 2005: Hard copies of an order marked "Replaces fax filed 11-3-05" filed by the Court. This order modified the rate of interest on the judgment to six percent (6%) per annum.

December 9, 2005: Appellant files notice of appeal.

The Arkansas Supreme Court held that the November 10 order was "clearly nunc pro tunc," in that it merely corrected the interest rate on the previous order. Thus: the thirty-day period to file the notice of appeal ran from November 3, 2005, not November 10, 2005, and the appellant filed too late. Case dismissed.