The saga regarding what is a final, appealable judgment under Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 54(a) continued today. The Idaho Supreme Court entered the following order:
WHEREAS there are a number of judgments that have been previously entered that do not comply with Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 54( a) or Idaho Rule of Family Law Procedure 803;
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that any judgment, decree or order entered before April 15, 2015, that was intended to be final but which did not comply with Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 54(a) or Idaho Rule of Family Law Procedure 803 shall be treated as a final judgment.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that as of April 15, 2015, all final judgments must comply with Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 54(a) or Idaho Rule of Family Law Procedure 803.
The order can be found here. The order follows the Court’s order in Cook v. Arias, Dkt. No. 41745 (Feb. 6, 2015), which I understand created a firestorm from family law magistrates and practitioners. As noted in a blog post entered earlier this week, Cook continues a litany of decisions from the Court on the meaning of a final judgment under I.R.C.P. 54(a).