By Richard C.O. RezieThe requirement under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(c)(1) that a motion for relief from judgment be filed within a “reasonable time” applies with equal force to motions seeking to vacate a judgment as void under FRCP 60(b)(4). The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling ends an 11-1 split in the Circuit Courts going the other way.
The Sixth Circuit was the lone holdout, holding that the “reasonable time” limits also apply to void judgments, and in this recent ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed that particular view. This ruling will likely have broad ramifications across the various states, including in Ohio, because the Ohio Civil Rules are generally patterned after their federal counterparts and, generally, up until now, Ohio courts have also held that there is no “reasonable time” requirement to seek to vacate a void judgment. Of course, Ohio courts can also interpret the Rule differently under state law. That will be an issue for the Ohio Appellate Courts and likely the Supreme Court of Ohio to address in the upcoming years.