This approach diverges from the Rule 59(e) standard by allowing for different evidence presented during the course of litigation as opposed to new evidence not available at trial. A court may revise an interlocutory ruling under the same conditions pursuant to which it may depart from the law of the case: (1) a subsequent trial resulting in substantially different evidence (2) a change in applicable law or (3) clear error resulting in manifest injustice. The law-of-the-case doctrine provides when a court decides upon a rule of law, such decision should continue to control the same issues in later phases of that case. While broader than the discretion allowed relative to motions to reconsider final judgments under Rule 59(e), the discretion is not inexhaustible. Relying on a recent Fourth Circuit decision, the court addressed the flexibility to revise interlocutory orders before final judgment, as new facts or arguments surface during the course of litigation. The action was most recently before the court on the parties’ motions to reconsider the court’s earlier order, pursuant to Rule 54(b). In Powell, an action for breach of contract and bad faith failure to pay underinsured motorist benefits, the court initially denied State Farm’s motion for summary judgment on both claims, and Plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment on the breach of contract claim. The United States District Court recently addressed both the discretion afforded and limitations imposed by Rule 54(b) in the context of a breach of contract and bad faith action. Thus, Rule 54(b) governs reconsideration of interlocutory orders, such as one denying summary judgment. Maynard Nexsen PC Maynard Nexsen PC Main Content Main Menu MenuĪ district court may revise “any order or other decision…that adjudicates fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties…at any time before the entry of a judgment adjudicating all the claims and all the parties’ rights and liabilities” Fed.
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