On August 14, 2013, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion in Yesh Music v. Lakewood Church holding that a voluntary dismissal under FRCP 41(a)(1)(A)(i) without prejudice is a final proceeding, meaning that a district court can vacate it under FRCP 60(b). The Fifth Circuit considered this issue for the first time, and agreed with other federal circuits in holding that voluntary dismissals can be vacated.

Plaintiff Yesh Music granted Lakewood Church a limited license to use one of its songs in marketing media. When Lakewood used the song in a television promotion, Yesh Music objected that it exceeded the license and filed a copyright infringement suit in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas in August, 2011. Yesh Music voluntarily dismissed the suit without prejudice under FRCP 41(a)(1)(A)(i). The next day, it filed suit again in New York federal court to substitute Yesh Music LLC as the plaintiff. Lakewood Church objected, and the parties agreed to dismiss the action filed in New York and that the case would proceed in Texas. Yesh Music filed a motion for relief from final judgment under FRCP 60(b) requesting that the court vacate the voluntary dismissal and reinstate the original complaint. Lakewood Church argued that relief under FRCP 60(b) did not extend to voluntary dismissals because they are not final judgments. The district court disagreed, and granted the motion to vacate the dismissal. Lakewood Church appealed.

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision. Vacatur under FRCP 60(b) is limited to "final judgments, orders and proceedings." Though a voluntary dismissal without prejudice is not completely "final" because a plaintiff can re-file the dismissed complaint, the court reasoned that because a voluntary dismissal terminates the case unless the plaintiff acts to reinstate it, it is for all practical purposes "final." Citing case law from other circuits, the court also held that voluntary dismissals without prejudice are proceedings for the purposes of FRCP 60(b). Finally, Lakewood Church further argued that the district court abused its discretion by vacating the dismissal, thereby permitting Yesh Music to avoid the consequences of filing and dismissing two complaints for the same claims, namely, having the notice of dismissal operate as an adjudication on the merits of the action (FRCP 41(a)(1)(B)). The Fifth Circuit, however, noted that the complaint filed in New York federal court was dismissed because the parties agreed in court that the case would proceed in Texas. Therefore, denial of Yesh Music's motion would have been "unfair."