Securities and Exchange Commission v. Seaboard Corp‪.‬

Spellman was named as a cross-defendant in a cross-complaint filed by some of the defendants in a securities case. After failing to produce requested documents, and failing to attend his noticed deposition, he was ordered to comply, and to pay sanctions of $790. He then gave his deposition, but refused to pay the $790. Upon motion, the court struck his answer to the cross-complaint and entered a default against him, which was eventually reduced to judgment for $669,739.54. Four months later, Spellman filed a motion to set aside the judgment under Rule 60(b), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He now appeals from the denial of this motion, and from the denial of his subsequent motion for reconsideration. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the decision of the district court. Analysis here must begin with the proposition that ""(a) motion for relief from judgment under Rule 60(b) ... does not toll the time for appeal from, or affect the finality of, the original judgment."" Browder v. Director, 434 U.S. 257, 263 n.7, 98 S. Ct. 556, 560 n.7, 54 L. Ed. 2d 521. Furthermore, ""(t)he Court of Appeals may review the ruling (on a Rule 60(b) motion) only for abuse of discretion ... and an appeal from denial of Rule 60(b) relief does not bring up the underlying judgment for review."" Id. Spellman's arguments must all be evaluated solely as they bear on the district court's exercise of discretion on the Rule 60(b) motion. He cannot prevail merely by showing that the default judgment itself was erroneous.