June 19, 2018

by Ronald Scott and Reginald Corley
Scott & Corley, P.A. – USFN Member (South Carolina)

In a recent opinion, the South Carolina Supreme Court reaffirmed the absolute ten-day deadline for filing a motion to alter or amend a judgment as set forth in Rule 59(e), SCRCP.¹ The Court expressly stated that, “[t]he failure to serve a Rule 59(e) motion within ten days of receipt of notice of entry of the order converts the order into a final judgment, and the aggrieved party’s only recourse is to file a notice of intent to appeal.” [Overland, Inc. d/b/a Land Rover Greenville v. Nance, Case No. 2016-002151 (S.C. May 23, 2018).]

Background
The facts in this case are that the petitioner (Overland, Inc.) sought damages against Lara Marie Nance, Bank of America, SunTrust Bank, and other defendants. This action arose from Nance’s embezzlement of $1,282,000 from the Land Rover dealership operated by Overland in Greenville, South Carolina. Overland contended that Bank of America and SunTrust owed a duty to Overland, which they breached by allowing Nance to deposit forged checks into fraudulent accounts that she created. The banks responded by filing motions for summary judgment on the grounds that no duty was owed to Overland, who was not a customer at either of the two banks. The circuit court granted the motions for summary judgment; the circuit court denied Overland’s Rule 59(e) motion. Overland filed a notice of appeal, which the court of appeals dismissed in an unpublished opinion filed July 20, 2016. The state Supreme Court granted Overland’s petition for a writ of certiorari.

Conclusion
The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s order granting summary judgment as to the respondents under Rule 220(c).² Further, the Court affirmed that the ten-day deadline set forth by Rule 59(e) is an absolute deadline. It clarified the confusion surrounding the application of Rule 59(e) in conjunction with Rule 6(b),³ which grants trial courts limited authority to extend deadlines. The Court stated that while Rule 6(b) does allow courts to extend deadlines, given certain conditions, Rule 6(b) does not apply to the strict deadline that must be followed by Rule 59(e). Moreover, Rule 6(b) explicitly excludes Rule 59 from its scope, which lacks the conditions necessary to allow an exception under rule 6(b).⁴

¹ “A motion to alter or amend the judgment shall be served not later than 10 days after receipt of written notice of the entry of the order.” Rule 59(e), SCRCP.
² See Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR; Oblachinski v. Reynolds, 391 S.C. 557, 560, 706 S.E.2d 844, 845 (2011).
³ See Rule 6(b) SCRCP.
⁴ See supra Note 3. (“The time for taking any action under rules 50(b), 52(b), 59, and 60(b) may not be extended except to the extent and under the conditions stated in them.”) Id.; Alston v. MCI Communications Corp., 84 F.3d 705, 706 (4th Cir. 1996) (“It is clear ... that the district court was without power to enlarge the time period for filing a Rule 59(e) motion.”)


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