Arkansas Court of Appeals Dismisses Case without Prejudice for Lack of Final Order; Court Notes that Only Documents From the Record May be Included in an Appellant’s Addendum

Today’s unpublished per curiam from the Court of Appeals (en banc)–Bank of the Ozarks v. Jim Wood Co., Case No. CA08-1488–serves as a reminder to practitioners of the necessity of appealing from a final order: 

The finality problem arises because the Bank’s claim against Capital has not been adjudicated, non-suited, or otherwise resolved by the circuit court. Under Ark. R. Civ. P. 54(b), an order that fails to adjudicate all of the claims as to all of the parties is not final for purposes of appeal. Although the circuit court may direct entry of a final judgment as to fewer than all of the parties by executing a Rule 54(b) certificate, that was not done here. In the absence of a final order, we must dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See generally Hodges v. Huckabee, 333 Ark. 247, 968 S.W.2d 619 (1998).

The Court dismissed the appeal without prejudice.

In addition to the lack of a final order, the Court noted that the appellant’s addendum contained documents that were not included in the record on appeal.  The Court’s per curiam also reminds practitioners that Arkansas Appellate Courts do not consider documents included in an appellant’s addendum that are not contained in the record.  See, e.g., Union Pac. R.R. v. Barber, 356 Ark. 268, 149 S.W.3d 325 (2004); Barnett v. Monumental Gen. Ins. Co., 354 Ark. 692, 128 S.W.3d 803 (2003); Clark v. Pine Bluff Civ. Serv. Comm’n, 353 Ark. 810, 120 S.W.3d 541 (2003).

–Tasha Taylor