Vacated judgment

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A vacated judgment makes the original judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is the result of the judgment of an appellate court which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court.

A trial court also has the power, under certain circumstances (usually involving fraud or lack of jurisdiction over the parties to a case) to vacate its own judgments. Relief from judgment in the United States district courts is governed by Rule 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

A vacated judgment frees the parties to re-litigate the issues subject to the vacated judgment.

Indeed the Seventh Circuit noted that a vacated judgment "place[s] the parties in the position of no trial having taken place at all." United States v. Williams, 904 F.2d 7, 8 (7th Cir. 1990).