A motion to vacate a judgment under Rule 60(b)(6) is the topic of this blog post.

A motion to vacate a judgment under Rule 60(b)(6) in United States District Court is harder to obtain than
motions filed under clauses 1-5 of Rule 60(b) in that the Courts have ruled that this motion can only be
granted in extraordinary circumstances to prevent a manifest injustice.

Rule 60(b)(6) (Rule 60) states that a Court can vacate a judgment for any other reason that justifies relief.

Rule 9024 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure states that Rule 60 applies to most proceedings
in United States Bankruptcy Court so this motion can be filed in most bankruptcy cases as well.

If filed in the right situations, a motion to vacate a judgment under Rule 60(b)(6) makes sense, particularly
in situations where the facts of the case do not meet the requirements of clauses 1-5 of Rule 60(b) even
though extraordinary circumstances exist.

Rule 60 states in pertinent part that “(b) Grounds for Relief from a Final Judgment, Order, or Proceeding.
On motion and just terms, the court may relieve a party or its legal representative from a final judgment,
order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (6) any other reason that justifies relief.”

And Rule 60 also states that “(c) Timing and Effect of the Motion. (1) Timing. A motion under Rule 60(b)
must be made within a reasonable time—and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) no more than a year after the
entry of the judgment or order or the date of the proceeding.”

No strict time limitation on filing a motion to vacate a judgment under Rule 60(b)(6).

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as well as other Circuit Courts of Appeal have stated that there is no
strict time limitation on filing a motion to vacate a judgment under Rule 60(b)(6) although in my personal
opinion any party should file their motion as soon as possible after they have knowledge that a default
judgment has been entered against them as the motion must be made within a reasonable time and a
motion filed under clause (6) is generally hard to obtain except in very unusual circumstances.

However the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has stated that Rule 60, like all the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure, “is to be liberally construed to effectuate the general purpose of seeing that cases are tried on
the merits.” Rodgers v. Watt, 722 F.2d 456, 459 (9th Cir. 1983) (internal citations omitted.)

See also Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 1, “The Federal Rules should be construed and administered to
secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.”

Sample motion to vacate a judgment under Rule 60(b)(6) for sale.

Attorneys or parties in civil litigation in United States District Court who wish to view a portion of an 11
page sample motion to vacate a judgment under Rule 60(b)(6) that includes brief instructions, a
memorandum of points and authorities with citations to case law and statutory authority, sample
declaration and proof of service by mail sold by the author can see below.