Lead Opinion
ON MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
The plaintiffs have filed a motion for reconsideration of our decision dismissing the appeal in this case, Houghton v. County Comm’rs of Kent Co.,
The argument made in the plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration begins with the assertion that, “[u]ntil publication of the majority’s opinion in this case, it has been the perception of the Bar and the Judges of the Court of Special Appeals that it [an appeal] is ‘permitted by law’ after judgment has been entered with the use of the word ‘judgment’ on the docket.” (Motion, pp. 4-5). The plaintiffs suggest that “[i]f this Court or its Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure had ever resolved that it was not necessary to have the word ‘judgment’ in the docket entry, someone neglected to inform [the bar and] the Court of Special Appeals.” (Id., p. 13). The authority for this “perception” of the law by the bar and judges is said to be Eastgate Associates v. Apper,
“The decision in this case establishes a new principle of law by overruling a clear past precedent on which the Judges of the Court of Special Appeals and litigants, including Appellants, have relied, and by deciding an issue of first impression whose resolution was not clearly foreshadowed.
‘A decision overruling a judicial precedent will be limited to prospective application where to give it retroactive effect would impose undue hardship on persons who have justifiably relied on the the overruled precedent. A distinction has sometimes been made as to whether the overruling has been deemed to be retroactive in effect, or was one of procedural law, in which*219 case the overruling has been deemed as merely prospective in effect.’ 20 Am.Jur 2d Courts § 233 (1965) (emphasis added).”
The plaintiffs also argue that, instead of dismissing their appeal, we should follow the approach taken in Shell Oil Co. v. Supervisor,
The Maryland State Bar Association, in its memorandum supporting the motion for reconsideration, takes essentially the same position as the plaintiffs. The Bar Association asserts that the decision in the instant case “established a new principle,” that it “overruled” Felger v. Nichols, supra,
Alternatively, the Bar Association asserts that the federal courts have “craft[ed] ‘the unique circumstances doctrine’ to permit an appeal even though the letter of the rules for appeal has been violated.” (Memorandum, pp. 20-21). It “is applied to permit an ‘otherwise untimely appeal.’ ” {Id., p. 21). According to the Bar Association, “this ‘unique circumstances doctrine’ is ... used when an appellant is led astray by judicial action or the like. The ‘doctrine’ protects a limited class of appellants who, otherwise, would be left remediless— The ‘doctrine’ is broad enough to countenance protecting Appellants] in the case at bar.” {Id., pp. 21-22). The Bar Association states that the “doctrine” is “[grounded in [the] Supreme Court decisions ... [in] Thompson v. I.N.S.,
I.
The argument advanced by the plaintiffs, and the principal argument of the Bar Association, rests upon the entirely erroneous premise that our decision in this case was novel and overruled prior cases in this Court.
As both the Supreme Court and this Court have made clear, the question of whether a particular judicial decision should be applied prospectively or retroactively, depends in the first instance on whether or not the decision overrules prior law and declares a new principle of law. If a decision does not declare a new legal principle, no question of a “prospective only” application arises; the decision applies retroactively in the same manner as most court decisions. United States v. Johnson,
“The theory of the Court of Appeals seems to have been that when a party has significantly relied upon a clear and established doctrine, and the retrospective application of a newly declared doctrine would upset that justifiable reliance to his substantial injury, considerations of justice and fairness require that the new rule apply prospectively only____ There is, of course, no reason to confront this theory unless we have before us*221 a situation in which there was a clearly declared judicial doctrine upon which United relied and under which its conduct was lawful, a doctrine which was overruled in favor of a new rule according to which conduct performed in reliance upon the old rule would have been unlawful. Because we do not believe that this case presents such a situation, we have no occasion to pass upon the theory of the Court of Appeals.”
Just recently, in Potts v. State, supra,
Our holding in the case at bar, that an unqualified order granting a motion to dismiss or strike the plaintiffs entire initial pleading is final and appealable, is not “novel” and does not overrule any earlier cases in this Court.
We have said on numerous occasions that “the ‘accepted test in determining finality’ is whether ‘[t]he effect of the court’s ruling was to put the plaintiff out of court and deny her the means of further prosecuting her case____’” Mooring v. Kaufman,
Applying this standard, this Court has consistently taken the position that orders dismissing, or granting motions to dismiss or to strike or motions ne recipiatur with respect to the plaintiff’s entire initial pleading, are final and appeal-able. See, e.g., Bailey v. Woel,
In fact, the proposition that the dismissal of an entire initial pleading is a final judgment has always been so well understood, that this Court on many occasions has decided whether a given order is final and appealable by determining whéther it is equivalent to an order of dismissal. For example, in Hendrickson v. Standard Oil Co.,
In a multitude of other cases, appeals of orders granting motions to dismiss or strike the plaintiffs’ initial pleadings have been decided on the merits, with neither the parties nor the Court even questioning appealability. See, e.g., Mohamed v. Michael,
The General Assembly likewise has operated under the assumption that an order granting a motion to dismiss the initial pleading is a final judgment. Thus, Maryland Code (1974, 1984 Repl.Vol.), § 12-302(c)(l) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, provides as follows:
“The State may appeal from a final judgment granting a motion to dismiss or quashing or dismissing any indictment, information, presentment, or inquisition.”
See State v. Pike,
This Court considered the precise issue presented by the instant case a year ago in Johnson v. Borg-Warner Acceptance Corp.,
We are aware of no case in this Court, and none has been cited to us, holding or even suggesting that an unqualified order granting a motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ entire
The argument that the decision in this case overrules Eastgate Associates v. Apper, supra,
In Eastgate Associates v. Apper, after the close of the evidence presented by the plaintiffs in a jury trial, the circuit court granted the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict. The granting of the motion was entered in the docket pursuant to former Rule 552, which provided in part as follows:
“Rule 552. Directed Verdict ...
“a. Motion for—...
In an action tried by a jury any party may move, at the close of the evidence offered by an opponent or at the close of all the evidence, for a directed verdict in his favor on any or all of the issues.
“e. Entry of Verdict by Clerk.
*225 Upon the granting by the court of an instruction directing a verdict, the court shall instruct the clerk to enter such verdict, and to note that it has been entered by the court’s instruction. It shall not be necessary for the jury, by its foreman, or otherwise, to render such verdict.”
There was no entry of a final disposition, however, as required by former Rule 567 f. Former Rule 567 provided in pertinent part as follows:
“a. Motion—When to Be Filed.
A motion for a new trial as to all or part of the matters in controversy shall be filed within three days after the reception of a verdict, or, in case of a special verdict or a trial by the court within three days after the entry of a judgment nisi.
“f. Effect of Failure to File Motion—Entry of Final Judgment.
If a motion for a new trial be not made, within the time prescribed by section a of this Rule, the clerk shall enter a final judgment as of course.”
Despite the lack of the entry required by Rule 567 f, the plaintiffs took an appeal. In holding that the Court of Special Appeals correctly dismissed the appeal for lack of a final judgment,
“In the instant case, the appeal was taken from the instruction granting a directed verdict. Such an instruction is equivalent to a jury verdict, see Rule 552 e, and is analogous to the entry of a judgment nisi in an action tried by the court, Merlands Club, Inc. v. Messall, supra, 238 Md. [359] at 362 [208 A.2d 687 (1965)]; Rule 564 b 1. As with a judgment nisi, a verdict, whether reached by*226 jury or directed by the court, is not a final order. See Rule 567 f. ‘[I]t is indisputably clear that there is no right to appeal from a verdict,’ Montauk Corp. v. Seeds,215 Md. 491 , 502,138 A.2d 907 (1958). See, additionally, Hawkins v. GMAC, supra, 250 Md. [146] at 148 [242 A.2d 120 (1968)]; Merlands Club, Inc. v. Messall, supra,238 Md. at 362-363 [208 A.2d 687 ]; Md., Del. and Va. Rwy. Co. v. Johnson,129 Md. 412 ,99 A. 600 (1916).”
Consequently, the holding in Eastgate and other cases that the entry of a directed verdict or a judgment nisi was not a final appealable order was based entirely upon the requirement of the former rules that something more be done in order for there to be a final judgment.
The holding in this case that the dismissals entered January 21 and 23,1985, constituted a final judgment, is likewise not inconsistent with the Court of Special Appeals’ opinion in Felger v. Nichols, supra. In Felger, the intermediate appellate court held that the granting of the defendant’s motion for summary judgment under former Rule 610, entered on the docket, did not amount to a final judgment.
“Maryland Rule 610 d 1 requires that when a motion for summary judgment is granted, the ‘judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith.’ This rule establishes that the grant of the motion is nothing more than a determination that the moving party is entitled to a judgment. It does not itself constitute the entry of final judgment.
“In our view, the grant of such a motion is analogous to the grant of a motion for a directed verdict. There is no right of appeal from the grant of a motion for a directed verdict, [citing Eastgate ].”
Whether or not Felger’s interpretation of former Rule 610 was correct, the holding in that case clearly rested upon an interpretation of the former summary judgment rule and the conclusion that the rule was analogous to the former rules governing directed verdicts. The plaintiffs in Houghton and the Bar Association do not even suggest that the provisions of any rule (past or present) require that something more be done after the grant of a motion to dismiss a plaintiff’s initial pleading.
Finally, the reliance on Shell Oil v. Supervisor, supra,
II.
As stated previously, the Bar Association relies upon the federal “unique circumstances” doctrine, suggesting that we adopt this doctrine and apply it to allow the Houghtons’ appeal “even though the letter of the rules for appeal has been violated.” (Memorandum, pp. 20-21). We decline, however, to adopt the “unique circumstances” doctrine in this case.
The “unique circumstances” doctrine was first formulated in Harris Truck Lines v. Cherry Meat Packers, supra,
“[i]n view of the obvious great hardship to a party who relies upon the trial judge’s finding of ‘excusable neglect’ prior to the expiration of the 30-day period and then suffers reversal of the finding, it should be given great deference by the reviewing court. Whatever the proper result as an initial matter on the facts here, the record contains a showing of unique circumstances sufficient*229 that the Court of Appeals ought not to have disturbed the motion judge’s ruling.”
In Thompson v. I.N.S., supra,
Based on these Supreme Court cases, federal courts have developed a general “unique circumstances” doctrine. As stated in United Artists Corp. v. La Cage Aux Folles, Inc.,
“ ‘Courts will permit an appellant to maintain an otherwise untimely appeal in unique circumstances in which the appellant reasonably and in good faith relied upon judicial action that indicated to the appellant that his assertion of his right to appeal would be timely, so long as the judicial action occurred prior to the expiration of the official time period such that the appellant could have given timely notice had he not been lulled into inactivity.’ ” (Quoting Willis v. Newsome, 747 F.2d 605, 606 (11th Cir.1984)).
See, e.g., Feister v. Turner, supra,
For several reasons, we do not believe that the doctrine should be adopted by us, at least in our adjudicatory capacity. First, the holding in Harris, the case at the heart of the doctrine, is based squarely on the federal rule allowing an extension of time for an appeal upon a showing of “excusable neglect.” The Maryland Rules do not contain a comparable provision authorizing an extension of the time for appeal.
Second, other state courts have criticized the “unique circumstances” doctrine and refused to adopt it. In Town of South Berwick, Etc. v. Maineland, Inc.,
“The practical consequence of the Thompson majority decision is that the trial judge can grant an extension of time by mistake or deception in a situation where the rules explicitly withhold that power if exercised intentionally and openly. We much prefer the reasoning of the four dissenters speaking through Mr. Justice Clark:.
‘Rules of procedure are a necessary part of an orderly system of justice. Their efficacy, however, depends upon the willingness of the courts to enforce them according to their terms. Changes in rules whose inflexibility has turned out to work hardship should be effected by the process of amendment, not by ad hoc relaxations by this Court in particular cases. Such dispensations in the long run actually produce mischievous results, undermining the certainty of the rules and causing confusion among the lower courts and the bar.’
Id.375 U.S. at 390 ,84 S.Ct. at 400 .”
Similarly, in Edwards v. Young,
“Although this holding may create some hardship as in the instant case, the rule is clear and we take it as we*231 find it. In general, opposing parties have their rights too, and one of them is to feel secure in the knowledge that they are finally freed from the burdens of a suit. They cannot do this as long as a case may be re-opened because of allegedly ‘unique circumstances’ occurring after the time for appeal has passed.”
Finally, this Court has not in the past been persuaded by the policies underlying the “unique circumstances” doctrine. In Baltimore Luggage Co. v. Ligon,
“It is clear, ... that the appellant was not entitled as a matter of law to rely on the statement of the judge that he was going to enter a judgment nisi. As we have pointed out, the rules and the decisions show that a final judgment is contemplated by the rules after a special verdict and that in such case a judgment nisi has no place. This is neither startling nor unusual____ While the trial court certainly should not have changed his mind and entered a final judgment without any notice whatsoever to counsel, particularly to counsel for the losing side, after he had indicated that he was about to enter a judgment nisi, nevertheless, the appellant and its counsel were not entitled, as of right, to rely entirely on the judge’s indicated purpose. It is settled that a party to litigation, over whom the court has obtained jurisdiction, is charged with the duty of keeping aware of what actually occurs in the case and is affected with notice of all subsequent proceedings and that his actual knowledge is immaterial.”
While the “unique circumstances” doctrine of the federal cases, or something similar to it, might be a matter for consideration by the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure and this Court in its rule making capacity, the doctrine affords no basis for granting the motion for reconsideration.
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION DENIED.
Notes
. Our cases do not, of course, deal specifically with a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, as this was not a ground for a motion to dismiss prior to July 1, 1984. Under prior Maryland practice, a demurrer would be used for such ground. Nevertheless, with regard to the appealability of orders granting motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the law was well settled. See Banker's Trust Co. v. Mallis,
. We did, however, delete other language from the Court of Special Appeals’ mandate. See
. Aronstamn v. Coffey, supra, relied on by the plaintiffs and the Bar Association, is also a case where the appeal was taken from a judgment nisi, without the entry of final judgment under former Rule 567 f. The Court there stated (
"As of the time of appeal no final judgment had been entered, although the clerk should have entered judgment. Therefore, the appeal must be dismissed, since the appeal was from a judgment nisi. Hawkins v. GMAC,
. See, however, a motion to dismiss after the close of an opponent’s evidence under former Rule 535, as the former rules were construed by the Court of Special Appeals in Hughes Auto Co. v. Polyglycoat Corp.,
. Appeals may be made within 60 days after entry of judgment, rather than 30 days when “the United States or an officer or agency thereof is a party.” Rule 4(a)(1), Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.
. It should be noted that the federal “unique circumstance” cases cited by the Bar Association all involve reliance upon statements or actions by the trial court; none of the cases involves reliance upon erroneous action by a United States Court of Appeals. Whether or not the federal courts would extend the doctrine so far beyond the federal rule is entirely speculative.
In addition, none of the cited "unique circumstance” cases is analogous to the situation here. The plaintiffs originally believed, properly, that the orders of January 21 and 23, 1985, constituted a final judgment, and they took a timely appeal. When the Court of Special Appeals ruled against them by dismissing their appeal, the plaintiffs could have done what thousands of unsuccessful litigants in the Court of Special Appeals have done over the years, namely sought further review by this Court. They chose to forego this option.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
Adhering to the views expressed in my earlier dissent,
Chief Judge MURPHY concurs with the views expressed herein.