Rule 60: Relief from a Judgment or Order

Rule 60 is the last resort for a party seeking to undo a final judgment. It provides a safety valve for extraordinary circumstances where leaving the judgment in place would be manifestly unjust.

Rule 60(a) handles the easy cases: clerical errors — typos, mathematical mistakes, oversights in transcription — can be corrected at any time. Rule 60(b) is the heavy-duty provision, listing six grounds for relief. The first three grounds — mistake/excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, and fraud by the other party — have a strict one-year deadline. Grounds four and five — void judgments and satisfied/reversed judgments — must be raised within a 'reasonable time.' The sixth ground, the catchall provision 60(b)(6), is reserved for extraordinary circumstances not covered by the other grounds, and courts construe it narrowly.

The bar for Rule 60(b) relief is intentionally high because of the strong interest in finality of judgments. A Rule 60(b) motion is not a substitute for a timely appeal, and it cannot be used to relitigate issues already decided. Rule 60(d) separately preserves the court's inherent power to set aside a judgment for fraud on the court — a doctrine with an even higher standard but no time limit.