COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, EIGHTH DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA NO. 73246 WILLIAM HUFF, et al : : ACCELERATED DOCKET Plaintiffs-appellants : : JOURNAL ENTRY vs. : and : OPINION STEVEN JAMES KOSCICK, et al : : PER CURIAM Defendants-appellees : : : DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT OF DECISION : APRIL 30, 1998 CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING : Civil appeal from : Court of Common Pleas : Case No. 316,382 JUDGMENT : REVERSED AND JUDGMENT FOR : PLAINTIFFS REINSTATED. DATE OF JOURNALIZATION : APPEARANCES: For plaintiffs-appellants: RANDALL M. PERLA Attorney at Law 19443 Lorain Road Fairview Park, Ohio 44126 For defendants-appellees: WILLIAM H. RIDER Attorney at Law 113 St. Clair Building, #525 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 PER CURIAM: This cause came on to be heard upon the accelerated calendar pursuant to App.R. 11.1 and Loc.R. 25, the records from the Cuya- -2- hoga County Court of Common Pleas, the briefs and the oral arguments of counsel. On July 27, 1995, in Brook Park, appellant William Huff, a mail carrier, was bitten by a dog owned by appellees Steven J. Koscick and Jennifer Koscick. Appellants filed a complaint in Common Pleas Court on October 4, 1996, against appellees for appellant William Huff's injuries and appellant Beverly Ann Huff's loss of consortium. The case was referred to arbitration under Loc.R. 29 on March 19, 1997, and an arbitration hearing was held before a three-member panel on June 17, 1997. That same day, the arbitration panel found for the plaintiffs in the amount of $8,000, plus costs. This finding was filed with the Clerk of Court and journalized on June 20, 1997. One month later, the time for appeal having run, the court below accepted this finding and issued final judgment. Defendants-appellees' Motion for Relief from Judgment of August 12, 1997, asked the court to vacate and set aside final judgment and grant leave to appeal the arbitration award. Defendants' counsel stated that he (counsel) never received notice of the arbitration award, which accounted for the lack of timeli- ness of his motion. On September 15, 1997, the court granted defendants-appellees' motion for relief from judgment and granted leave to file a notice of appeal from the arbitration award. Plaintiffs-appellants then appealed to this court. -3- Assignment of Error Number One is sustained for the reason that the trial court abused its discretion in granting relief from judgment where appellees failed to demonstrate a meritorious claim or defense. An appellate court will not reverse a trial court's grant or denial of a Civ.R. 60(B) motion for relief from judgment absent an abuse of discretion. McCann v. Lakewood (1994), 95 Ohio App.3d 226, 236. The Supreme Court of Ohio has held that to prevail on a motion brought under Civ.R. 60(B), the movant must demonstrate that: (1) the party has a meritorious defense or claim to present if relief is granted; (2) the party is entitled to relief under one of the grounds stated in Civ.R. 60(B)(1) through (5); and (3) the motion is made within a reasonable time *** GTE Automatic Electric v. ARC Industries (1976), 47 Ohio St.2d 146 (syllabus). This court has held that a movant must satisfy all three of the above-listed factors in order to prevail on a Civ.R. 60(B) motion. McCann,supra, at 236. Relief from a final judgment should not be granted unless the party seeking such relief makes at least a prima facie showing that the ends of justice will be better served by setting the judgment aside. Rose Chevrolet, Inc. v. Adams (1988), 36 Ohio St.3d 17, 21. Appellees' motion did not demonstrate a meritorious defense or claim and, hence, does not satisfy the first prong of the GTE Automatic test. GTE Automatic, supra, at 146. The court below -4- thus abused its discretion in granting defendants-appellees' motion for relief from judgment. Assignment of Error Number Two is sustained for the reason that the trial court erred in granting appellees leave to appeal an arbitration report and award when the motion for leave was filed more than thirty days after the entry of the award and the arbi- tration costs were not repaid within thirty days. Loc.R. 29(VII)(A)(1)of the General Division of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. The right of appeal under Rule 29 is subject to the conditions outlined therein, all of which must be complied with within thirty days after the entry of the award of the arbitration board. Id. The trial court's grant of appellees' motion for leave to appeal the arbitration report and award is vacated. The trial court's grant of appellees' motion for relief from judgment is reversed, and the judgment for plaintiffs of July 29, 1997, at Vol. 2113, page 152, is reinstated. -5- It is ordered that appellants recover of appellees their costs herein taxed. The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal. It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas to carry this judgment into execution. A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. __________________________________ ANN DYKE, PRESIDING JUDGE __________________________________ TERRENCE O'DONNELL, JUDGE __________________________________ KENNETH A. ROCCO, JUDGE N.B. This entry is an announcement of the court's decision. See App.R. 22(B), 22(D) and 26(A); Loc.App.R. 27. This decision will be journalized and will become the judgment and order of the court pursuant to App.R. 22(E) unless a motion for reconsideration with supporting brief, per App.R. 26(A), is filed within ten (10) days of the announcement of the court's decision. The time period for review by the Supreme Court of Ohio shall begin to run upon the journalization of this court's announcement of decision by the .