Blog

There were only two decisions of note from last week, both from the Eleventh Circuit. One involved a purported injunction appeal before the district court set the terms of the injunction. The other involved the purported stipulated dismissal of all unresolved claims.…

There’s is a lot to talk about from last week, including two opinions that touch on ongoing circuit splits (one involving arbitration appeals, the other involving immigration appeals). We also saw another Federal Circuit mandamus decision involving the refusal to transfer a case out of the Western District of Texas. Plus a bunch of other decisions on a variety of topics.…

In what was probably last week’s most widely read order, the Eleventh Circuit referred to its pendent appellate jurisdiction. The Fifth Circuit dismissed an appeal from a party that could not get an immediate vacatur of an injunction. The Third Circuit addressed diversity jurisdiction, despite that issue not being part of the order certified for an immediate appeal via § 1292(b).…

Last week added to the tale of the Rule 3(c) amendments. Once again, a court overlooked those amendments in discussing whether the order designation in a notice of appeal limited the scope of appeal. And another court—when informed of those amendments—held that they did not apply to a pending case.

In other decisions, a Ninth Circuit concurrence argued that evidence-admissibility issues were within the scope of a qualified-immunity appeal.…

Lots to talk about and not a lot of time to talk. Let’s get to it.…

Last week, two courts discussed the circumstances in which it’s appropriate for district courts to enter partial judgments under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b). Both took a pretty narrow view of the rule. The Third Circuit addressed the application of 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(3) (which grants appellate jurisdiction over “decrees . …

Last week, the First Circuit held that litigants can immediately appeal denials of motions to litigate anonymously. The Sixth Circuit reviewed a denial of derivative state sovereign immunity. It also extended pendent appellate jurisdiction over a summary-judgment decision, as doing so was necessary to review a preliminary injunction. Another court of appeals overlooked the recent amendments to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3(c).…

Where to begin?…

The courts of appeals continue to wrestle with their jurisdiction after dismissals without prejudice. The most recent example is Britt v. DeJoy, in which the Fourth Circuit sat en banc to address finality when a district court dismisses a complaint or action without prejudice but also does not grant or deny leave to amend.…

Dismissals for failure to prosecute are appealable, and the court of appeals will review the propriety of the dismissal. The more interesting issue is what else the court of appeals will review. The merger rule normally means that all interlocutory decisions merge into the final judgment. But allowing litigants to appeal interlocutory decisions by inviting a failure-to-prosecute dismissal rewards dilatory tactics and risks piecemeal review.…