Condemnation Order Which Postponed Compensation Award Could Not Be Certified Under Rule 54(b)
The Supreme Court of Alabama dismissed an appeal for lack of jurisdiction where the circuit court’s order, though certified as final under Rule 54(b), reserved the issue of compensation for later determination. State of Alabama v. Brantley Land, L.L.C., No. 1050668 (Ala. June 29, 2007). Such a partial order could not be certified under Rule 54(b).
The State sought to condemn several tracts of land to improve a highway. The circuit court granted the State a fee simple in part of the land and an easement in the rest. The court did not award compensation for the taking, reserving this issue for later determination. It then certified its judgment as final under Rule 54(b) and the State appealed.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal as wrongly certified under Rule 54(b). That rule, the court explained, applies only to judgments which completely dispose of one of a number of claims or one of multiple parties. This means, in part, that only “fully adjudicated whole claim[s]” can be certified as final under Rule 54(b). “Rule 54(b) does not authorize the entry of final judgment on part of a single claim.” Yet that was what the circuit court had attempted. Because its order reserved for later determination the awarding of compensation, the order did not present a “fully adjudicated whole claim” and could not be certified under Rule 54(b); “the trial court erred in directing the entry of a final judgment as to that order.” The appeal was therefore dismissed.