Pearce v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co. , 28 Neb. Ct. App. 410 ( 2020 )


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    05/26/2020 12:08 AM CDT
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    Nebraska Court of Appeals Advance Sheets
    28 Nebraska Appellate Reports
    PEARCE v. MUTUAL OF OMAHA INS. CO.
    Cite as 
    28 Neb. Ct. App. 410
    Kevin P. Pearce and Julie Pearce, appellants, v.
    Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company
    and Continuum Worldwide
    Corp., appellees.
    ___ N.W.2d ___
    Filed May 19, 2020.     No. A-19-868.
    1. Judgments: Final Orders: Legislature. The Legislature has defined
    a judgment as the final determination of the rights of the parties in an
    action; conversely, every direction of a court or judge, made or entered
    in writing and not included in a judgment, is an order.
    2. Rules of the Supreme Court: Records: Appeal and Error. Appellate
    court rules provide for the inclusion of journal entries into the appel-
    late record.
    3. Jurisdiction: Final Orders: Appeal and Error. For an appellate court
    to acquire jurisdiction of an appeal, there must be a judgment, decree, or
    final order entered by the court from which the appeal is timely taken,
    and that judgment, decree, or final order must contain the clerk of the
    court’s file stamp and date.
    4. Final Orders: Appeal and Error. An unsigned journal entry without
    a file stamp can constitute an interlocutory order; but it cannot consti-
    tute a final, appealable order, particularly when it does not dispose of
    all issues.
    5. Jurisdiction: Records: Proof: Appeal and Error. It is the appellant’s
    burden to ensure that the record establishes the appellate court’s basis
    for jurisdiction over an appeal.
    Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County: Thomas
    A. Otepka, Judge. Appeal dismissed.
    Benjamin E. Maxell, of Govier, Katskee, Suing & Maxell,
    P.C., L.L.O., for appellants.
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    PEARCE v. MUTUAL OF OMAHA INS. CO.
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    28 Neb. Ct. App. 410
    Richard P. Jeffries, of Cline, Williams, Wright, Johnson &
    Oldfather, L.L.P., for appellees.
    Riedmann, Bishop, and Arterburn, Judges.
    Bishop, Judge.
    Kevin P. Pearce and Julie Pearce attempt to appeal for the
    third time from two underlying orders entered by the Douglas
    County District Court on October 16, 2018, and May 23, 2019.
    Appellees, Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company (Mutual of
    Omaha) and Continuum Worldwide Corp. (Continuum), have
    filed a motion for summary dismissal on the basis that the
    Pearces’ appeal is now untimely. We agree the appeal is
    untimely, and we therefore sustain appellees’ motion for sum-
    mary dismissal and dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.
    Ordinarily, a summary dismissal by this court is limited
    to a brief docket entry filed in the case. However, given the
    confusion apparent in this case with regard to orders memo-
    rialized on docket sheets, i.e., journal entries; final judg-
    ments; and adequate appellate records, a detailed explanation
    is warranted.
    BACKGROUND
    Underlying Orders Entered October 16, 2018,
    and May 23, 2019
    Kevin was an insurance agent for appellees; he rented
    office space from Mutual of Omaha where he kept personal
    computers which contained business and personal informa-
    tion. Kevin’s contract with appellees was terminated without
    warning on January 17, 2014. Kevin was escorted from his
    office, and he subsequently filed an action for the return of
    his property. Appellees filed a counterclaim seeking damages
    for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets,
    along with an injunction against Kevin’s possession or use of
    appellees’ proprietary material. Appellees filed a motion for
    summary judgment; the following sequence of events then
    took place:
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    PEARCE v. MUTUAL OF OMAHA INS. CO.
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    •  October 16, 2018: The district court entered an order sustain-
    ing appellees’ summary judgment motion, thus dismissing
    the Pearces’ action with prejudice. The order was silent as
    to appellees’ counterclaim, but the last sentence of the order
    stated that “[a]ny request for relief by any party not specifi-
    cally granted by this Order is denied.”
    •  October 24, 2018: Mutual of Omaha filed a “Motion to
    Alter or Amend,” noting that the October 16 order did not
    address its counterclaim for an injunction (and also noted that
    Continuum was previously dismissed from the action).
    •  October 26, 2018: The Pearces filed a “Motion to Alter or
    Amend” the October 16 order for various reasons.
    •  November 30, 2018: There are three pages of “Judges Notes”;
    each page indicates the case name at the top of the page, fol-
    lowed by specific dates and docket entries. The judge’s name
    is listed for each entry. The docket entry for “11/30/2018”
    noted attorney appearances, and then it stated, “Hearing
    on Defendant’s [Mutual of Omaha’s] Motion to Alter or
    Amend. Argument. Motion Sustained. Order to be submitted.
    Hearing on Plaintiff’s [Pearces’] Motion to Alter or Amend.
    Argument. Motion Denied.”
    •  December 13, 2018: An “Order on [Mutual of Omaha’s]
    Motion to Alter or Amend” sustained Mutual of Omaha’s
    motion to alter or amend and explained that the October
    16 summary judgment order did not dispose of Mutual
    of Omaha’s counterclaim, the temporary restraining order
    remained in effect until further order, and the October 16
    order was not intended to be a final order or judgment by
    the court.
    •  May 23, 2019: The district court indicated in its “Permanent
    Injunction and Judgment” that there was a trial on appellees’
    action for a permanent injunction. The injunction was granted.
    First Appeal: A-19-603
    Filed June 21, 2019
    The Pearces filed a notice of appeal on June 21, 2019.
    Although neither party raised a jurisdictional issue, this court
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    on its own motion issued an order to show cause noting that
    the matter was under jurisdictional review. The show cause
    order pointed out that the district court “clerk’s certificate
    indicates that a motion or motions to alter or amend judg-
    ment” had been filed on October 24, 2018. Because neither the
    motions nor orders were included in our transcript, the Pearces
    were ordered to provide this court copies of any motion to
    alter or amend judgment, along with the district court’s sub-
    sequent ruling on the motion or motions. In response, the
    Pearces filed a supplemental transcript which contained the
    motions to alter or amend filed by the Pearces and Mutual of
    Omaha, as well as the December 13 order pertaining solely to
    Mutual of Omaha’s motion to alter or amend as noted above.
    However, the Pearces did not include in the supplemental
    transcript a copy of the November 30 docket entry contained
    in the Judges Notes which memorialized the district court’s
    denial of the Pearces’ motion to alter or amend following a
    hearing. We note here that our appellate court rules provide
    for inclusion of such records in the transcript. See Neb. Ct.
    R. App. P. § 2-104(B) (journal entries may be typed as group
    and included at end of transcript). See, also, Neb. Rev. Stat.
    § 25-914 (Reissue 2016) (“[e]very direction of a court or
    judge, made or entered in writing and not included in a judg-
    ment, is an order”).
    Because the Pearces failed to provide any documentation
    to establish that their motion to alter or amend had been ruled
    upon by the district court on November 30, 2018, this court
    dismissed their first appeal on July 25, 2019. This court’s
    docket entry dismissing the appeal stated, “District Court has
    not yet ruled upon [the Pearces’] motion to alter or amend.”
    At this point, the Pearces could have requested a rehearing
    and could have provided to this court through a supplemental
    transcript a copy of the November 30, 2018, docket entry in
    the Judges Notes reflecting the district court’s denial of the
    Pearces’ motion to alter or amend. However, the Pearces did
    not do so. As a result, their appeal was dismissed because
    the appellate record did not demonstrate that the Pearces’
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    October 26 motion to alter or amend had ever been ruled
    upon by the district court and their appeal appeared to be pre-
    mature. See Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1912(3) (Cum. Supp. 2018)
    (timely motion to alter or amend judgment terminates time in
    which notice of appeal must be filed; when such terminating
    motion is filed, notice of appeal filed before court announces
    decision upon terminating motion shall have no effect and
    new notice of appeal must be filed after entry of order ruling
    on terminating motion).
    Second Appeal: A-19-764
    Filed August 9, 2019
    Following this court’s dismissal of the Pearces’ first appeal,
    instead of filing for rehearing or filing a petition for further
    review, the Pearces instead filed another notice of appeal on
    August 9, 2019. They again indicated that they sought review
    of the October 16, 2018, order (summary judgment) and
    the May 23, 2019, order (permanent injunction). This time,
    Mutual of Omaha’s motion to alter or amend filed October
    24, 2018, and the Pearces’ motion to alter or amend filed
    October 26 were included in the transcript, along with the
    December 13 order which related only to Mutual of Omaha’s
    motion. However, the Pearces had requested in their praecipe
    for transcript, “Any and all Judge’s Notes throughout this
    proceeding.” The transcript filed by the district court clerk
    did not contain the Judges Notes as requested by the Pearces.
    On August 21, 2019, this court issued an order to show
    cause, stating:
    A review of the current record fails to show that the
    Douglas County District Court ever ruled on [the
    Pearces’] motion to alter or amend the judgment. [The
    Pearces] are given 10 days from the date of this order
    to file a supplemental transcript with this court which
    contains a file stamped copy of the district court’s order
    denying their motion to alter or amend the judgment.
    Failure to file such a supplemental transcript may result
    in the appeal being summarily dismissed . . . .
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    PEARCE v. MUTUAL OF OMAHA INS. CO.
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    28 Neb. Ct. App. 410
    On August 23, 2019, the Pearces filed a “Response to
    Order to Show Cause.” It stated that the district court judge
    “did not enter an Order on the [Pearces’] Motion to Alter or
    Amend filed on or about October 26, 2018[,]” but that the
    parties “met in chambers for hearing on the parties’ compet-
    ing Motions to Alter or Amend on November 30, 2018, where
    [the district court judge] denied [the Pearces’] Motion to
    Alter or Amend (see attached Exhibit ‘A’, Judges Notes dated
    11/30/2018).” Exhibit A showed various filings, and at the end
    of the document, the Judges Notes contained the November
    30, 2018, docket entry denying the Pearces’ motion to alter
    or amend.
    This court dismissed the second appeal on August 29, 2019,
    with a docket entry stating, “District court has not yet ruled
    upon [the Pearces’] motion to alter or amend.” Although this
    was not quite accurate based on the November 30, 2018,
    docket entry now supplied to this court in response to the order
    to show cause, the Judges Notes were not provided to this court
    in a supplemental transcript. Regardless, even if the Judges
    Notes had been included in the initial transcript in this second
    appeal (as requested by the Pearces in their praecipe) or in a
    supplemental transcript in response to the order to show cause,
    the second appeal could not have been saved.
    Because the second appeal was filed on August 9, 2019, and
    the district court’s final judgment was entered on May 23, the
    appeal was now untimely. There was nothing in the record to
    show that the 30-day appeal time had been tolled. We acknowl-
    edge that this court’s docket entry may have created some con-
    fusion by dismissing the second appeal on the basis that the
    “District court has not yet ruled upon [the Pearces’] motion
    to alter or amend.” This likely led to the Pearces erroneously
    believing that the November 30, 2018, docket entry contained
    in the Judges Notes it had now provided to this court did not
    constitute an order disposing of their motion to alter or amend.
    As a result, the Pearces subsequently sought to have the dis-
    trict court enter a separate written and file-stamped order deny-
    ing the Pearces’ October 26 motion to alter or amend. The
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    district court proceeded to enter such an order on September
    9, 2019 (signed September 6, file-stamped September 9). That
    order stated: “This matter came on for hearing on November
    30, 2018, upon [the Pearces’] Motion to Alter or Amend. . . .
    IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED [the Pearces’] Motion to Alter
    or Amend is denied.” The Pearces thereafter immediately filed
    their notice of appeal on September 9, 2019, in the present
    (third) appeal, A-19-868.
    In response to the newly entered September 9, 2019,
    order denying the Pearces’ October 26, 2018, motion to
    alter or amend, the appellees filed a “Motion to Vacate” the
    “September 6 [sic], 2019 Order purporting to deny, for the
    second time, the [Pearces’] Motion to Alter or Amend as of
    the same date.” Appellees referred to the docket entry entered
    on November 30, 2018, in the Judges Notes, and pointed out
    that per appellate court rules, journal entries can be made
    part of the official transcript, but that the Pearces failed to
    do so when appealing to this court. Appellees submitted
    that the Pearces were trying to “make an otherwise untimely
    appeal viable,” in that the Pearces’ motion to alter or amend
    could not be denied twice. Appellees further claimed that the
    September 9, 2019, order was entered over appellees’ objec-
    tion without a motion and notice of hearing and that therefore,
    the order was the product of an ex parte communication and
    was prejudicial to appellees.
    On September 24, 2019, the district court entered an order
    vacating the “September 6 [sic], 2019 Order.” It took judicial
    notice of the Judges Notes from November 30, 2018, wherein
    the court had already denied the Pearces’ motion to alter or
    amend and concluded that the September 9, 2019, order “pur-
    ports to deny the Motion to Alter or Amend for the second
    time.” The district court referred to § 25-914 (every direction
    of court or judge, made or entered in writing and not included
    in judgment, is order) and § 2-104(B)(2) with regard to the
    Judges Notes constituting a written order of the court which
    could have been transmitted to this court. The district court
    concluded that this court did not acquire jurisdiction as a
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    result of the September 9 order because it was an invalid order
    and that therefore, the district court determined it retained
    jurisdiction to vacate the September 9 order.
    On September 30, 2019, the Pearces filed a “Motion to Enter
    Order.” It set forth the sequence of events pertaining to its
    motion to alter or amend and stated that “to date, an Order on
    [the Pearces’] Motion to Alter or Amend has not been entered.”
    They requested such an order. On October 8, the district court
    filed an “Order on Motion to Enter Order,” which overruled
    the motion.
    Present (Third) Appeal: A-19-868
    Filed September 9, 2019
    As noted above, the Pearces’ filed their third notice of
    appeal in this action on September 9, 2019, the same day the
    district court’s order was filed purporting to deny the Pearces’
    October 16, 2018, motion to alter or amend. As also noted,
    the September 9, 2019, order was subsequently vacated by
    the district court on September 24. Regardless of the filings
    and orders generated in the district court following this court’s
    dismissal of the Pearces’ second appeal, the Pearces’ third
    appeal must nevertheless be summarily dismissed for lack
    of jurisdiction.
    ANALYSIS
    Appellees’ Motion for
    Summary Dismissal
    Appellees correctly assert that the September 9, 2019, notice
    of appeal was filed more than 30 days after the final judgment
    was entered in this case on May 23. They contend that this
    court is therefore deprived of jurisdiction and that the Pearces’
    third appeal should be dismissed. It is true that § 25-1912(1)
    provides that a notice of appeal shall be filed within 30 days
    of entry of a judgment, decree, or final order. However, pursu-
    ant to § 25-1912(3), the running of the time for filing a notice
    of appeal shall be terminated by a timely motion to alter or
    amend a judgment under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1329 (Reissue
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    2016) (motion to alter or amend judgment shall be filed no
    later than 10 days after entry of judgment). In this case, both
    appellees and the Pearces filed timely motions to alter or
    amend the October 16, 2018, order, which appeared to be a
    final judgment at that time. Subsequently, according to the
    November 30 docket entry contained in the Judges Notes, a
    hearing appears to have taken place that day on both parties’
    motions to alter or amend; Mutual of Omaha’s motion was sus-
    tained, and an order was to be submitted to the district court.
    The Pearces’ motion was “Denied.” An order was then entered
    on December 13, sustaining Mutual of Omaha’s motion to alter
    or amend. The order explained that the October 16 summary
    judgment order did not dispose of Mutual of Omaha’s counter-
    claim, the temporary restraining order remained in effect until
    further order, and the October 16 order was not intended to be
    a final order or judgment by the court.
    The determinative issue for jurisdictional purposes comes
    down to whether or not the November 30, 2018, docket entry
    contained in the Judges Notes constitutes an order disposing of
    the Pearces’ motion to alter or amend. If so, then by the time
    the final judgment of the court was entered on May 23, 2019,
    there were no pending motions to alter or amend which would
    have tolled the time to appeal beyond the 30 days provided for
    in § 25-1912.
    Did November 30, 2018, Docket
    Entry Constitute Order?
    [1,2] The confusion in this case stemmed from the dis-
    trict court’s November 30, 2018, docket entry/journal entry
    set forth in the Judges Notes, wherein the court denied the
    Pearces’ October 26 motion to alter or amend. We conclude
    that although it was a docket entry and not a separate file-
    stamped document, the written entry made by the district
    court on November 30 denying the Pearces’ motion to alter
    or amend was nevertheless an order disposing of the Pearces’
    motion. Section 25-914 states: “Every direction of a court
    or judge, made or entered in writing and not included in a
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    judgment, is an order.” See, also, E.D. v. Bellevue Pub. Sch.
    Dist., 
    299 Neb. 621
    , 
    909 N.W.2d 652
    (2018) (Legislature
    has defined judgment as final determination of rights of par-
    ties in action; conversely, every direction of court or judge,
    made or entered in writing and not included in judgment, is
    order). Additionally, as previously noted, our appellate court
    rules provide for the inclusion of journal entries, such as the
    Judges Notes involved here, into the appellate record. See
    § 2-104(B)(2) (“[j]ournal entries may be typed as a group and
    included at the end of the transcript,” and “[e]ach entry must
    show the date it was filed with the clerk of the court and the
    name of the judge making the entry”). In the Judges Notes
    before us, each docket entry showed the date it was filed and
    the name of the judge making the entry.
    An order such as the one made by the district court in the
    Judges Notes on November 30, 2018, is distinguishable from
    a judgment, decree, or final order resolving a case, and from
    which an appeal can be taken. The November 30 written
    docket entry constituted an “order” disposing of the Pearces’
    motion even though it was not separately filed and did not
    contain a file stamp. The key distinction to be made on the
    necessity of a signed, file-stamped order is whether we are
    dealing with (1) an order that is not part of a judgment or (2)
    a judgment. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1301 (Cum. Supp. 2018) pro-
    vides the requirements for a final order or judgment; it states
    in part:
    (1) A judgment is the final determination of the rights
    of the parties in an action.
    (2) Rendition of a judgment is the act of the court, or a
    judge thereof, in signing an order of the relief granted or
    denied in an action.
    (3) The entry of a judgment, decree, or final order
    occurs when the clerk of the court places the file stamp
    and date upon the judgment, decree, or final order. For
    purposes of determining the time for appeal, the date
    stamped on the judgment, decree, or final order shall be
    the date of entry.
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    (4) The clerk shall prepare and maintain the records of
    judgments, decrees, and final orders that are required by
    statute and rule of the Supreme Court.
    [3,4] For an appellate court to acquire jurisdiction of an
    appeal, there must be a judgment, decree, or final order
    entered by the court from which the appeal is timely taken,
    and that judgment, decree, or final order must contain the
    clerk of the court’s file stamp and date. See
    id. See, also,
    City of Ashland v. Ashland Salvage, 
    271 Neb. 362
    , 
    711 N.W.2d 861
    (2006) (file-stamped journal entry disposed of
    whole merits of case and was final judgment for purposes of
    appeal); Donscheski v. Donscheski, 
    17 Neb. Ct. App. 807
    , 
    771 N.W.2d 213
    (2009) (district court’s order denying mother’s
    motion for removal and change of custody and granting
    father’s motion for custody was unsigned journal entry that
    was not file stamped and did not dispose of all issues; thus,
    journal entry did not constitute rendition or entry of judg-
    ment and was interlocutory order superseded by subsequent
    final order). In Donscheski v. 
    Donscheski, 17 Neb. Ct. App. at 813
    , 771 N.W.2d at 219, this court pointed out the distinc-
    tion between an order which is not part of a judgment and a
    final judgment:
    Consequently, §§ 25-914 and 25-1301 specify the
    range of actions available to a judge by defining, first,
    an order—which, by definition, is not part of a judg-
    ment—and second, a judgment—which must be a final
    determination of the rights of the parties in an action,
    as well as being both rendered and entered, before it
    is a final, appealable order. . . . Because the July 31,
    2008, journal entry was neither signed nor file stamped,
    it did not constitute either a rendition of judgment or
    an entry of judgment. Furthermore, the July 31 journal
    entry was also not a final order, because it did not dis-
    pose of all issues—the district court specifically left the
    issues of parenting time and child support under advise-
    ment. . . . [T]he journal entry is quite meaningless for
    our purposes; it is the final order of October 15 which
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    we review, and which superseded the interlocutory order
    contained in the journal entry.
    Therefore, as set forth in Donscheski v. 
    Donscheski, supra
    , an
    unsigned journal entry without a file stamp can constitute an
    interlocutory order; but it cannot constitute a final, appealable
    order, particularly when it does not dispose of all issues.
    When the district court in the present matter made the
    November 30, 2018, docket entry contained in the Judges
    Notes, it was an order disposing of the Pearces’ motion to alter
    or amend the October 16 order. It was not an order that was
    part of a final judgment; it did not fully dispose of the under-
    lying case. However, once the May 23, 2019, final judgment
    was entered, all matters had been disposed of, and there were
    no pending terminating motions. Thus, this court would have
    had jurisdiction over the first appeal had the appellate record
    contained the November 30, 2018, docket entry.
    For the sake of completeness, we want to be clear that had
    a motion for new trial or motion to alter or amend judgment
    been timely filed after the final judgment was entered in this
    case on May 23, 2019, then any order ruling on such a ter-
    minating motion would have to have been formally entered
    on the trial court’s records, not merely recorded as a docket
    entry in the Judges Notes. This is so because the order on the
    terminating motion is part of the final judgment and now dis-
    poses of the whole action. See § 25-1912(3) (notice of appeal
    must be filed after “entry of the order” ruling on terminating
    motion). The “entry” of an order is governed by § 25-1301(3),
    which requires the clerk of the court to place a file stamp
    and date upon the judgment, decree, or final order. Section
    25-1301(3) further provides: “For purposes of determining the
    time for appeal, the date stamped on the judgment, decree, or
    final order shall be the date of entry.” An order ruling on a
    terminating motion timely filed after a final judgment or final
    order starts the 30-day clock for filing an appeal, and must be
    entered in accordance with § 25-1301.
    On the other hand, a file-stamped “entry” of the November
    30, 2018, order in this case, while maybe preferable, was
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    not required given its interlocutory status (October 16 order
    was not final judgment), much like the journal entry that was
    not signed or file stamped in Donscheski v. Donscheski, 17 Neb.
    App. 807, 
    771 N.W.2d 213
    (2009). Such docket entries or jour-
    nal entries are nevertheless orders of the court. See § 25-914
    (“[e]very direction of a court or judge, made or entered in
    writing and not included in a judgment, is an order”). They are
    simply not final, appealable orders or judgments, which would
    require compliance with § 25-1301 (clerk of court’s file stamp
    and date placed upon judgment, decree, or final order).
    Summary
    [5] Accordingly, when the Pearces filed their first appeal
    (A-19-603) on June 21, 2019, it was timely filed from the
    entry of the May 23 final judgment. There were no newly filed
    motions to alter or amend after entry of that judgment. All that
    was needed at the time of the first appeal was an appellate
    record containing the November 30, 2018, order, which was
    memorialized in the Judges Notes; this would have confirmed
    there were no outstanding motions to alter or amend remaining
    from the October 2018 filings. Despite the order to show cause
    issued by this court, the Judges Notes were not supplied and
    the Pearces’ first appeal was dismissed. This was unfortunate;
    however, it is the appellant’s burden to ensure that the record
    establishes the appellate court’s basis for jurisdiction over an
    appeal. See Clarke v. First Nat. Bank of Omaha, 
    296 Neb. 632
    ,
    
    895 N.W.2d 284
    (2017).
    Following the dismissal of the first appeal, the subsequent
    appeals were each filed out of time because there were no
    remaining terminating motions extending the Pearces’ time
    to appeal.
    CONCLUSION
    For the foregoing reasons, appellees’ motion for summary
    dismissal is sustained and the appeal is dismissed for lack
    of jurisdiction.
    Appeal dismissed.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: A-19-868

Citation Numbers: 28 Neb. Ct. App. 410

Filed Date: 5/19/2020

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 5/26/2020