Cedar Creek Oil & Gas Co. v. Fidelity Gas Co.

We have here the old, old question of when is a judgment a judgment. As usual, there is a variation in the facts from the last case or any other case on the subject.

If the defendants (appellees now) who prevailed in the trial court obtained the judgment on June 13, 1956, the plaintiffs’ (appellants’) notice of appeal filed July 27, 1956, came too late and this court is without jurisdiction to entertain the appeal because more than 30 days *299 had elapsed between judgment and notice of appeal. Rule 73, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. But if appellants are correct and the judgment was entered on July 3, 1956, the notice of appeal, jurisdictional as it is, was timely. The question has arisen on a motion to dismiss the appeal made by the appellees.

Plaintiff’s complaint sought to quiet title to certain oil lands in Fallon County, Montana. By answer, the defendants asserted rights to be subsisting under certain agreements which they claimed affected the land. The defendants asked to have the validity of the agreements established, but no part of their answer was called by name, a counter-claim. However, the plaintiffs did file a reply to the defendants’ answer.

The…