Fitzgerald v. Rogue Agrisource LLC

"Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders, or other parts of the record and errors therein arising from oversight or omission may be corrected by the court at any time on its own motion or on the motion of any party and after such notice to all parties who have appeared, if any, as the court orders." ORCP 71 A.

Fitzgerald, appointed as the receiver in a receivership proceeding initiated by plaintiffs, filed a motion for relief after the trial court dismissed the case following the parties' stipulation that they no longer wished to pursue it. He argued that the trial court erred by denying his motion to set aside a dismissal judgment, which had been entered incorrectly through administrative action instead of a court order terminating the receivership. He claimed the dismissal was a legal error under ORCP 71 A or that it was grounds for relief due to "mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect" under ORCP 71 B(1). "Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders, or other parts of the record and errors therein arising from oversight or omission may be corrected by the court at any time on its own motion or on the motion of any party and after such notice to all parties who have appeared, if any, as the court orders." ORCP 71 A. The Court found the dismissal was not a clerical mistake and noted that Fitzgerald waited five months after learning of the dismissal before seeking to reinstate the case. The Court reasoned that because he did not explain the delay or demonstrate a clerical error under ORCP 71 A the trial court did not abuse its discretion. The Court held that Fitzgerald’s motion for relief was untimely and affirmed the trial court's decision.