final decisions
A blog on appellate jurisdiction and procedure.
By Bryan Lammon
Latest Posts
Tenth Circuit Rejects Anti-SLAPP Appeals
The Tenth Circuit held that anti-SLAPP appeals are too factual in nature to be immediately appealable via the collateral-order doctrine.
No Rehearing on Rule 4(a)(6) & Multi-Purpose Notices of Appeal
The en banc Fourth Circuit declined to rehear a case asking whether a single notice of appeal could be treated as both a Rule 4(a)(6) motion and—once that motion was granted—a notice of appeal.
Remand Appeals from the Veterans Court
The Federal Circuit explained that it could review a Veterans Court remand order when the appellant challenged the Veterans Court’s power to order the remand.
Heck & Judicial Estoppel in Qualified-Immunity Appeals
The Sixth Circuit joined the “no jurisdiction” side of the split on whether courts can review Heck issues as part of a qualified-immunity appeal. But it probably went too far in reviewing a judicial-estoppel argument.
Appellate Jurisdiction Over Denials of Permanent Residence
The Fourth Circuit concluded that courts lack jurisdiction to review the denial of an application for permanent residence.
Frivolous Federal-Officer Removal
The Seventh Circuit suggested that an invocation of federal-officer removal—which permitted a plenary appeal from a remand order—was frivolous and thus sanctionable.
The Finality of Bankruptcy Court Orders Recognizing Foreign Proceedings
The Eleventh Circuit held that a bankruptcy court order order recognizing a foreign proceeding is final.
About
Final Decisions covers appellate jurisdiction and procedure: recent decisions, cert petitions, scholarship, rule changes, and more—including regular roundups of notable decisions and developments.
Bryan Lammon is law professor at the University of Toledo College of Law. He studies federal appellate jurisdiction and procedure, primarily if and when litigants can appeal.