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In Leonard v. Martin, a split Fifth Circuit held that non-parties cannot use the collateral-order doctrine to immediately appeal discovery orders that reject a claim of undue burden. Other avenues for immediate review—certified appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), writs of mandamus, and contempt appeals—were available. The majority accordingly concluded that collateral-order appeals were unnecessary to ensure meaningful review of orders denying motions to quash on undue-burden grounds.…

In Ueckert v. Guerra, the Fifth Circuit held that an appeal from the denial of qualified immunity was untimely, as it came 412 days after the district court’s bench ruling. In the course of doing so, the court explained that the defendant had 180 days to appeal this denial. That’s because the district court never set out its denial of immunity in a separate document.…

There’s not a lot to talk about from last week. In a footnote, the Supreme Court added another type of order to the list of immediately appealable collateral orders. And the Tenth Circuit explained its caselaw on fact-based absolute-immunity appeals.…

In Tuesday’s Shoop v. Twyford, the Supreme Court reversed an order that required the state to transport a habeas petitioner from his prison to a hospital for medical testing. Before doing so, the Court had to explain how the Sixth Circuit had jurisdiction to immediately review this order. In a footnote, the Supreme Court said that the order was immediately appealable via the collateral-order doctrine.…

The to-the-point roundups of summer 2022 continue with a double-sized edition. Highlights include using Scott v. Harris’s blatant-contradiction exception to disregard allegations in a complaint and the appealability of Title VII’s ministerial-exception defense.…

Last week saw interesting decisions on the scope of class-certification appeals under Rule 23(f), the appealability of orders controlling communications with class members, manufactured finality, and more. Plus, Judge Bress questioned the Ninth Circuit’s caselaw allowing appeals from anti-SLAPP denials. But let’s start with a new cert petition that asks if appellate courts can always address the Bivens question in qualified-immunity appeals.…

I took a break from the roundup the last few weeks to work on some really interesting research. As I continue that work this summer, roundups might be a bit more to the point.

The last few weeks saw lots of interesting cases. Highlights include a Seventh Circuit decision on the finality of without-prejudice dismissals for failure to exhaust state habeas remedies and a Fifth Circuit decision on the scope of CAFA appeals.…

Last week I learned that the Tenth Circuit doesn’t review pre-transfer orders in an appeal from the final judgment in a transferred action. That might create some issues for the appellants in a case that the Eleventh Circuit dismissed. Last week also saw interesting discussions of whether district courts must stay (rather than dismiss) cases after ordering arbitration, finality for post-judgment recusal orders, and whether denials of asylum in Visa Waiver Program cases are final orders of removal.…

Last week saw interesting decisions on advisory mandamus, appealing reinstatement and withholding orders in immigration, appealing magistrate judge decisions, and hypothetical jurisdiction. Plus the timeliness of an appeal from a post-judgment contempt order and the blatant-contradiction exception to qualified-immunity appeals.…

Last week, the Supreme Court held that the deadline for appeals to the Tax Court is not jurisdictional. The Fifth Circuit reconsidered a decision from last month and dismissed an appeal from an administrative remand. The Fourth Circuit reversed the entry of a Rule 54(b) partial judgment. The Sixth Circuit refused to hear a certified appeal under § 1292(b).…