Mitchell ex rel. bankruptcy estate of Stein v. Burt Vetterlein & Bushnell PC

Mark A. Gordon, Robert G. Burt, and Burt & Gordon, P.C. 3 appeal the district court’s denial of their motions to vacate a judgment and to then reenter it so that they could appeal from that reentered decision. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(1) — (6). In addition, B & G appeals the district court’s denial of its motion to extend its time to appeal. See Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(5) — (6). We affirm.

BACKGROUND

On August 6, 1997, the district court entered a final judgment in favor of bankruptcy trustee John H. Mitchell and against the Attorneys. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b). The Attorneys, however, filed timely motions for judgment as a matter of law, to amend the judgment, and for a new trial. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b), 52(b) and 59. The district court took all of those motions under submission on September 22, 1997, and on October 1, 1997, the order denying them was duly entered. That commenced the 30-day period for filing a notice of appeal. See Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(1). No timely appeal was filed.

Long after the normal 30-day period had run, the Attorneys filed motions with the district court to obtain relief from their failure to file their notices of appeal. They asserted that they had not received…