Tenth Circuit Rules That District Courts Cannot Reopen Cases Under Rule 60(b) That Have Been Voluntarily Dismissed Without Prejudice Under Rule 41(a)
In Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services, the circuit court reversed a district court’s order relying on Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) to reopen a case that had been voluntarily dismissed without prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a). A split panel held that “a court cannot set aside a voluntary dismissal without prejudice because it is not a final judgment, order or proceeding.”