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Last week, the Federal Circuit might have kicked off another game of jurisdictional hot potato with the Fifth Circuit. Those courts can’t agree on where Walker Process appeals belong, and the Federal Circuit just sent another to the Fifth. The Sixth Circuit declined to weigh in on whether district courts must stay (and not dismiss) actions after ordering arbitration.…

A few years ago, in Xitronix v. KLA-Tencor, the Fifth and Federal Circuits could not agree on which of them should hear an appeal. The issue was whether a Walker Process claim arose under patent law. If it did, the Federal Circuit would have exclusive jurisdiction; if not, the appeal would go to the appropriate regional circuit.…

Last week, the Eighth Circuit said that an appeal from a refusal to compel arbitration encompasses all issues resolved alongside that refusal, even those unrelated to arbitration. So the court could address the propriety of class-action allegations as part of an arbitration appeal. The First Circuit held that the Bankruptcy Rules—not the Civil Rules—apply to cases consolidated under § 1334(b).…

Quick roundup this week. There were two cert denials of note. One asked if denied summary-judgment motions preserve purely legal issues. The other asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the finality trap. In the courts of appeals, the Eleventh Circuit held that defendants must obtain a certificate of appealability to challenge a district court’s decision to correct the improper part of a sentence (rather than resentence in full).…

The big news last week was the Supreme Court’s decision on the scope of remand appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d). There were also several decisions of note in the courts of appeals, all from the D.C. and Third Circuits. The D.C. Circuit held that it had jurisdiction to review denials of compassionate release under either 28 U.S.C.…

In BP P.L.C. v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, the Supreme Court adopted the broad reading of the exceptions to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d): if a defendant invokes the federal-officer removal statute (28 U.S.C. § 1442) or the civil-rights removal statute (28 U.S.C. § 1443) in removing a case, the defendant can appeal a remand order and obtain review of all proffered grounds for removal.…

Last week, the Eleventh Circuit said that it could review a remand order when the plaintiff raised a procedural defect only in her reply brief (which she filed more than 30 days after removal). The Sixth Circuit concluded that a Rule 54(b) partial judgment was proper despite some factual and legal overlap in the resolved and unresolved claims.…

Quick roundup this week. The Eleventh Circuit said that a decision dissolving an injunction against arbitration doesn’t count as an order modifying an injunction against arbitration. So litigants can’t appeal from the dissolution decision. And the Fifth Circuit reviewed the interpretation of a consent decree via the collateral-order doctrine, using some case-specific reasoning on its way to deeming the order appealable.…

Lots to talk about from last week. There was a split decision over whether the passage of time amounts to a changed circumstance that can support an injunction appeal. The Eleventh Circuit held that a party should have appealed before the district court amended its judgment to specify the amount of damages, as that amount was easy to calculate from the district court’s decision.…

Last week was full of courts dismissing appeals for a lack of jurisdiction. The Ninth Circuit rejected two attempts at manufacturing an interlocutory appeal by voluntarily dismissing all outstanding claims. The Fifth Circuit highlighted the need to file another timely notice of appeal when a court of appeals has remanded a case for further district court proceedings.…