Civil procedure
Rule 60 Motion
A Rule 60 motion asks the court to relieve a party from a final judgment for reasons such as mistake, newly discovered evidence, or fraud.
It is the late-arriving cousin of the Rule 59 motion. Clerical errors can be corrected any time, and most substantive grounds must be raised within a year, with a catch-all provision for extraordinary circumstances that courts apply sparingly.
Unlike a timely Rule 59 motion, filing under Rule 60 usually does not extend the deadline to appeal. Parties who need both relief and an appeal often file the notice of appeal to be safe.
The bar is deliberately high because finality matters. Relief for fraud on the court is available even years later, but ordinary disappointment with the outcome, or a lawyer's strategic mistake, is almost never enough. The rule also covers void judgments and satisfied ones, so it is the mechanism for cleaning up a docket when a judgment has been paid or was entered without jurisdiction in the first place.
How it appears on a docket
MOTION for Relief from Judgment under Rule 60(b)(2) based on newly discovered evidence, filed by plaintiff.
Governing rule
Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)
Related terms
- Rule 59 Motion — A Rule 59 motion asks the trial court for a new trial or to alter or amend its judgment, and it must be filed within 28 days.
- Judgment — A judgment is the court's final decision resolving the claims in a case and stating who wins and what they get.
More on civil procedure
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