Chapter §59.4 Comparison With Federal Rule

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§59.4 COMPARISON WITH FEDERAL RULE

CR 59 is similar to Fed. R. Civ. P. 59, although there are discrete and important differences between the two rules. CR 59(a) lists grounds upon which a trial court may order a new trial, whereas Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(a) does not specify grounds, but permits the court to order a new trial in accordance with prior practice. Both Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(d) and CR 59(d) expressly empower the court to grant a motion for new trial on a ground not stated in the motion.

CR 59 contains a number of sections that are not in Fed. R. Civ. P. 59. For instance, the state rule includes provisions that address hearings, statement of reasons for the court's ruling, reopening judgment, alternative motions, and limits on motions. See CR 59(e), (f), (g), (i), and (j).

CR 59(b) requires parties to file a motion for a new trial or for reconsideration not later than 10 days after the entry of the judgment, order, or other decision. The 2005 amendments eliminated the requirement that the motion also had to be served within 10 days. Prior to 2009, Fed. R. Civ. P. 59 similarly required parties to file the motion within 10 days of the entry of judgment. Under Fed. R. Civ. P. 59, this 10-day limit actually gave parties more time than CR 59's 10-day limit because of the differences in how time is calculated. Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a) provides that weekends and holidays are not counted because the time prescribed by Fed. R. Civ. P. 59 is less than 11 days. On the other hand, CR 6(a) requires that all days be counted in the calculation under CR 59 because the prescribed time is more than seven days. Although parties already had more time to file under Fed. R. Civ. P. 59, the federal rule was amended in 2009 to give parties even more time to file. According to the committee notes, the time to file a Fed. R. Civ. P. 59 motion was extended because "[experience has proved that in many cases it is not possible to prepare a satisfactory post-judgment motion in 10 days ...." Fed. R. Civ. P. 59, Committee Notes on Rules—2009...