Brandon v. Chicago Board of Education
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
143 F.3d 293 (7th Cir. 1998)
A court clerk's docketing error sent case notices, including notice of two hearings and the eventual dismissal order, to the wrong attorney in Brandon's (plaintiff's) ADA suit against the Chicago Board of Education (defendant), causing Brandon's actual attorney to miss the hearings, resulting in dismissal. Once the error was discovered, Brandon's attorney moved to vacate the judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), but filed the motion three days after the one-year deadline that applies to motions based on mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect; the district court denied the motion, and Brandon appealed.
Whether a court may deny a motion for relief from judgment attributable to a clerk of court's error when the motion is filed after the one-year deadline applicable to claims of mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect under Rule 60(b).