TITLE SEVEN — JUDGMENT
Rule 40. Entry of Judgment
Judicial Route. Judgments, orders, rulings, and decrees are entered by the court through the judicial route of the electronic filing system, and not through the general filing channel. A party shall not file a judgment, order, ruling, or decree. A party may file a proposed judgment or proposed order as a document within a filing made through the general filing channel; a proposed judgment or order has no effect until the court enters it through the judicial route.
Separate Document. Every judgment and every amended judgment shall be set forth on a separate document. A separate document is not required for an order disposing of a motion:
Entry by the Clerk Without Direction of the Court. Subject to Rule 36(6), and unless the court otherwise orders, the clerk shall forthwith prepare, sign, and enter judgment without awaiting any direction by the court when:
a jury returns a general verdict;
the court decides that a party shall recover only a sum certain or costs; or
the court denies all relief.
Entry Requiring the Court’s Approval. Subject to Rule 36(6), the court shall promptly approve the form of the judgment, which the clerk shall promptly enter, when a jury returns a special verdict or a general verdict with answers to written questions, or when the court grants relief not described in Rule 40(3).
Agreed Judgment; Stipulation of Dismissal. When a party files an agreement for judgment for a sum certain or denying relief, or a notice or stipulation of dismissal, the agreement, notice, or stipulation shall, upon its acceptance for filing, constitute the judgment for all purposes, and no separate document need be prepared. The clerk shall record the entry upon the docket.
When a Judgment Is Effective. A judgment is effective when it is entered upon the docket, and not before. Entry occurs at the moment the electronic filing system records the judgment upon the docket through the judicial route, and the judgment bears that date and time. All times are recorded in Coordinated Universal Time. Where a separate document is required, the judgment is entered when it is recorded upon the docket and the separate document has been received by the electronic filing system.
Request for Entry. A party may request that a judgment be set out in a separate document as required by Rule 40(2). The request shall be filed through the general filing channel and is decided by the court.
Notice of Entry. Upon entry, the electronic filing system gives notice to the participants in the case as provided in Rule 5 and Rule 59. Notice is best effort. Neither the giving of notice, the failure of notice, nor the time at which any participant reads a notice, affects the date of entry, the validity of the judgment, or the running of any period fixed by these rules or by statute. A party who did not receive notice of entry may seek relief only under Rule 42.
Costs and Fees Do Not Delay Entry. The entry of judgment shall not be delayed, nor shall the time to appeal be extended, in order to tax costs or to award attorney’s fees. Where costs or fees cannot be determined at entry, the judgment shall so state, and the amount shall be fixed by a supplemental judgment entered under Rule 41.
Correction of an Entered Judgment. The electronic filing system permits no amendment and no withdrawal of a document once received. A judgment is corrected by an amended or corrected judgment entered through the judicial route under Rule 42(1). The amended or corrected judgment bears its own date and time of entry; the original entry remains upon the docket, and the docket shall show the relationship between them.
Upon Order of the Supreme Court. The clerk shall enter any judgment specifically directed by the Supreme Court, in the form directed.
Certification. The clerk shall certify orders, judgments, and decrees as required by 3 R. Stat. § 131.102. A certified copy is furnished from the entry recorded upon the docket, and states the case number, the date and time of entry, and the fact of certification.