American Express National Bank v. Linda A. Petralia

THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

SUPREME COURT

In Case No. 2021-0315, American Express National Bank v.
Linda A. Petralia, the court on January 14, 2022, issued the
following order:

Having considered the defendant’s brief, the plaintiff’s memorandum of
law, and the record submitted on appeal, we conclude that oral argument is
unnecessary in this case. See Sup. Ct. R. 18(1). The defendant, Linda A.
Petralia, appeals the granting of summary judgment by the Superior Court
(Temple, J.) in favor of the plaintiff, American Express National Bank. She
argues that granting the plaintiff summary judgment was in error because, she
claims, the trial court had already entered a “final and binding” dismissal of
the case several months earlier. In its memorandum of law, the plaintiff
asserts, and the defendant has not disputed, that five days after the earlier
dismissal order, the plaintiff moved to vacate the dismissal, and that the trial
court granted its motion and vacated the dismissal two weeks later.

Until a case has gone to final judgment, the trial court retains broad
discretion to reconsider any decision in order to correct error, including a
decision dismissing the case. Goudreault v. Kleeman, 158 N.H. 236, 249
(2009); Redlon Co. v. Corporation, 91 N.H. 502, 503, 505-06 (1941). A non-
appealed dismissal does not go to final judgment until either the thirty-first day
from the trial court’s notice of decision on the dismissal, or, if a timely post-
dismissal motion was filed, the thirty-first day from the notice of decision on a
ruling denying that motion. Super. Ct. R. 46(d)(1), (2); see Kalil v. Town of
Dummer Zoning Bd. of Adjustment, 159 N.H. 725, 729 (2010) (observing that,
under predecessor to Rule 46, trial court’s final order became a “final
judgment” thirty-one days after the trial court had issued its decision). Here,
the trial court vacated its dismissal order well before the dismissal went to final
judgment. Accordingly, the dismissal did not preclude the subsequent
granting of summary judgment.

Affirmed.

MacDonald, C.J., and Hicks, Bassett, Hantz Marconi, and Donovan, JJ.,
concurred.

Timothy A. Gudas,
Clerk