Summary
The court held that a trial justice must provide written facts and reasons when disallowing a draft report under Dist./Mun. Cts. R. Civ. P. 64(c)(5). Nevertheless, the defendants’ petition to establish the draft report was denied because the report was filed twenty days after judgment, beyond the ten-day deadline, and the defendants had no remaining right to appellate review.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial justice was required by Rule 64(c)(5) to state in writing the facts and reasons for disallowing the defendants' draft report.
- Whether the defendants were entitled to have the draft report established despite filing it twenty days after judgment and outside Rule 64(c)(1)(ii)'s ten-day deadline.
- Whether the denial of the defendants' motion for additional time to file the draft report was reviewable in the petition proceeding.
Holdings
- Rule 64(c)(5) requires a trial justice who disallows a draft report to set forth succinctly in writing the facts and reasons for the disallowance.
- A party forfeits the right to appellate review by failing to file a draft report within the ten-day period prescribed by Rule 64(c)(1)(ii), absent a valid basis for extension.
- The disposition of a motion for additional time to submit a draft report rests within the sound discretion of the trial justice.
Key quotations
“Rule 64(c)(5) of the Dist./Mun. Cts. R. Civ. P. clearly and unequivocally mandates that a trial justice “shall set forth in writing succinctly the facts and reasons” for his disallowance of a draft report.” (218)
“As the defendants’ draft report was not seasonably filed in accordance with Rule 64(c)(l)(ii), the present petition to establish said draft report must be denied.” (219)
Factual background
The plaintiff obtained a $6,390 judgment against the defendants on a claim for a real estate broker's commission. Judgment entered on May 7, 1981, but the defendants did not submit their draft report until May 27, twenty days later. Their motion for an extension had been denied, and the trial justice disallowed the draft report without providing written reasons.
Procedural history
Judgment for $6,390 was entered for the plaintiff on his claim for a real estate broker's commission on May 7, 1981. The defendants sought an extension of time to file a draft report, but the motion was denied on May 20, 1981; they filed the draft report on May 27, 1981, and the trial justice disallowed it on July 22, 1981 without explanation. The Appellate Division held that the defendants had forfeited appellate review by failing to file the draft report within ten days and denied the petition.