Miller v. Herbert

JUSTICE GRAY,

specially concurring.

I concur in the Court’s opinion on the substantive issue involving summary judgment. I specially concur in the Court’s opinion insofar as it relates to the motion to dismiss the appeal, agreeing with the result but not with the rationale.

The Court concedes that there is no basis for the statement in Easley that a motion for reconsideration has been equated to a motion to alter or amend a judgment. Indeed, it is clear that the Montana Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for, or authorize, a motion to reconsider at all; as a result, no such motion is encompassed within Rule 5(a), M.R.App.P. Under these circumstances, it is my view that the better course would be to overrule the entirety of the statement *139in Easley, rather than to merely limit it as the Court has done. I would hold that any motion captioned a motion to reconsider is to be entirely disregarded by opposing parties and district courts because no such motion exists within the purview of the rules of civil procedure.