Riemers v. Hill, 2014 ND 80

Riemers owned a rental property leased to Heidee Hill and her family; after they vacated he sued for unpaid rent, late fees, property damage, and punitive damages.
The Hills moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim and sought attorney fees as the claims were allegedly frivolous; they also filed a counterclaim for abuse of process.
A hearing on the motion to dismiss was scheduled; Riemers did not appear.
The district court dismissed Riemers’ claims and awarded the Hills $500 in attorney fees; dismissal was entered without prejudice.
Riemers’ petition for rehearing was denied; the counterclaim remained unresolved and the court did not certify finality under N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court judgment is appealable	Riemers treated the dismissal as final and appealed the dismissal and fee award	The Hills argued the judgment was not final because their counterclaim remained unresolved and no Rule 54(b) certification was entered	The Court held it lacked jurisdiction because the judgment was not final or certified under Rule 54(b)
Whether dismissal without prejudice is appealable	Riemers implied the dismissal ended the litigation for purposes of appeal	Hills argued dismissal without prejudice is ordinarily nonappealable and Riemers could refile	The Court held dismissal without prejudice is ordinarily nonappeable; here statute of limitations had not run and refiling remained possible
Whether Rule 54(b) certification was warranted	Riemers did not obtain certification	Hills noted absence of certification and that this was not an exceptional case for piecemeal appeal	The Court found no just reason for Rule 54(b) certification and said certification would have been improvident
Whether appellate jurisdiction may be raised sua sponte	Riemers proceeded to appeal without jurisdictional briefing	Hills relied on the nonfinal nature of the judgment	The Court reiterated appealability is jurisdictional and may be raised sua sponte; it dismissed the appeal

Shannon v. Shannon, 822 N.W.2d 35 (N.D. 2012) (appealability is jurisdictional; only final judgments and certain statutory orders are appealable)
In re Estate of Hollingsworth, 809 N.W.2d 328 (N.D. 2012) (Rule 54(b) certification and discouragement of piecemeal appeals)
Investors Title Ins. Co. v. Herzig, 785 N.W.2d 863 (N.D. 2010) (purpose of Rule 54(b) to avoid piecemeal appeals)
Kouba v. Febco, Inc., 583 N.W.2d 810 (N.D. 1998) (judgment leaving a counterclaim undecided is not final)
Gillmore v. Morelli, 425 N.W.2d 369 (N.D. 1988) (nonfinal judgment when claims remain unresolved)
Meyer v. City of Dickinson, 397 N.W.2d 460 (N.D. 1986) (dismissal leaving unresolved claims is not appealable)
White v. Altru Health Sys., 746 N.W.2d 173 (N.D. 2008) (dismissal without prejudice is ordinarily not appealable unless practical effect terminates litigation)
Brummund v. Brummund, 758 N.W.2d 735 (N.D. 2008) (Rule 54(b) certification standards and rare appropriateness)