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Prompt entry of judgment can be the difference in a case victory

4/3/25

By: Donald Patrick Eckler and Madeline M. Krolczyk

In Thomas v. LVNV Funding LLC, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals highlights the importance of the procedure of timeliness in appeals. On Dec. 13, 2023, a jury returned a verdict for Valerie Thomas for statutory damages under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act after defendants, LVNV Funding LLC and Resurgent Capital Services L.P., did not report the dispute to the credit-reporting agency until 29 days after they reported the deficiency. Per Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(b)(1)(A), the clerk should have entered the judgment “promptly.” However, the clerk made a docket entry on Dec. 13, 2023, but they did not enter the judgment until June 11, 2024. 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(b)(1)(A) states that, subject to Rule 54(b) and unless the court orders otherwise, the clerk must, without waiting for the court’s direction, promptly prepare, sign and enter the judgment when the jury returns a general verdict.  

Resurgent filed a notice of appeal four days earlier, which took effect on June 11, 2024. The delay of the district court put the chance of appeal in issue. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(7)(A) provides that if a judgment is required but omitted, then judgment is deemed to have been entered 150 days after the docket entry. That rule would mean that the judgment would have been entered on May 11, 2024, and the 30 days allowed for appeal began to run.  

The court likens it to “good fortune” that defendants filed a timely appeal because if they had waited until the June 11 entry, 181 days later, the time to appeal would have expired. The Court emphasized that district courts must comply punctually with Rule 58 to avoid jeopardizing litigants’ appellate rights and that this is more than a matter of tidy bookkeeping; it can be the difference between winning and losing the case.  

Careful docketing of deadlines for a matter to be appealed is critical to ensure that the right to appeal is not lost. 

For more information on the topic, contact Donald Patrick Eckler at patrick.eckler@fmglaw.com, Madeline M. Krolczyk at madeline.krolczyk@fmglaw.com or your local FMG attorney.