January 13, 1999 -- The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with Thomas H. Roberts of the law firm of Thomas H. Roberts & Associates, P.C., in Fobian v. Storage Technology Corp., reversing the United States District Court decision to reject plaintiff’s Rule 60(b) motion for lack of jurisdiction. The Court of Appeals held that litigants could request a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, fraud, misrepresentation and other misconduct under Rule 60(b) by filing a motion with the trial court within one year while the case was on appeal in the Court of Appeals.

Under the holding by the Court of Appeals in Fobian v. Storage Technology Corp., motions under Rule 60(b) should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, but should be filed in the trial court for consideration on the merits. If the district court determines that it is inclined to grant the Rule 60(b) motion, it should issue a short memorandum so stating. The litigant can then move the Court of Appeals for a limited remand so that the district court can grant the Rule 60(b) relief.

The facts and circumstances of each case are unique and therefore the fact that a law firm has obtained significant verdicts and results in other cases in no way guarantees that other cases will have similar results.