- interlocutory judgment
- An intermediate judgment, a judgment which lacks finality. United States v Howe (CA2 Vt) 280 F 815, 23 ALR 531, cert den 259 US 587, 66 L Ed 1077, 42 S Ct 590. A judgment which "speaks between", that is does not speak the last word which the court may be required to speak in the case. Keffer v Keffer, 307 Ky 831, 212 SW2d 314. A judgment rendered in the middle of a cause upon some plea, proceeding, or default, which is only intermediate and does not finally determine or complete the suit. Jacoby v Carrollton Federal Sav. & Loan Asso. (Ky) 246 SW2d 1000. A judgment which is made before a final decision, for the purpose of ascertaining a matter of law or fact preparatory to a final judgment, or which determines some preliminary or subordinate point or plea, or settles some step, question, or default arising in the progress of the case, but does not adjudicate the ultimate rights of the parties or finally put the case out of court. 30A Am J Rev ed Judgm § 121. A judgment on the merits defining and settling the rights of the parties is not rendered interlocutory by the fact that further orders may be necessary to carry into effect the rights settled by the judgment. 30A Am J Rev ed Judgm § 122. See interlocutory decree.
Ballentine's law dictionary. Anderson, W.S.. 1998.