No Rule 60 relief for calendar error

November 14, 2018

Inadvertent calendaring errors can justify relief from some deadlines, but not Rule 60(b)(1), which says that a court “may relieve a party or its legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding,” on the grounds of “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.” “A district court does not abuse its discretion when it denies a Rule 60(b)(1) motion due to the ‘careless mistake of counsel.’  In fact, our case law establishes the opposite: ‘a court would abuse its discretion if it were to reopen a case under Rule 60(b)(1) when the reason asserted as justifying relief is one attributable solely to counsel’s carelessness with or misapprehension of the law or the applicable rules of court.'” Rayford v. Karl Storz Endoscopy Am., Inc., No. 18-30602 (Oct. 23, 2018, unpublished) (citations omitted).

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