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In Donahue v. Federal National Mortgage Association, the First Circuit held that the subsequent dismissal of a remaining defendant did not save a premature notice of appeal. The plaintiff in Donahue filed her notice after the district court had dismissed her claims against one of two defendants. So the notice of appeal was premature and technically ineffective.…

Update, December 8, 2020: The Eleventh Circuit has ordered rehearing en banc in this case. See Rehearing En Banc Granted in State-Action Antitrust Appeal for more.

In SmileDirectClub, LLC v. Battle, the Eleventh Circuit heard an interlocutory appeal from the denial of state-action (or “Parker”) immunity. A circuit split exists on whether state-action appeals are available under the collateral-order doctrine.…

Lots of interesting appellate-jurisdiction decisions last week. The Third Circuit allowed what looked to be a pure interlocutory appeal of the Bivens question. The Ninth Circuit held that the government could not immediately appeal the denial of its motion to dismiss a qui tam suit, at least when the government had not intervened.…

The Bivens question asks whether an implied constitutional remedy exists for a federal official’s unconstitutional conduct. The Supreme Court has held that this question is within the scope of a qualified-immunity appeal. That is, in an interlocutory appeal from the denial of qualified immunity, the court of appeals can address whether a Bivens remedy exists.…

Last week saw a slew of Ninth Circuit decisions of note. The court addressed appeals after some claims have been dismissed without prejudice, Perlman appeals, and cumulative finality. The Seventh Circuit also had its own cumulative-finality decision when a plaintiff appealed rather than amend its complaint. Several courts addressed the facts they should take as true for purposes of a qualified-immunity appeal.…

Relatively brief roundup this week. A split Ninth Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to review an order directing class-wide arbitration when the defendant wanted individual arbitration. The Third Circuit applied the blatant-contradiction exception to review the genuineness of fact disputes in a qualified-immunity appeal. And the Seventh Circuit required an amended notice of appeal to challenge a post-judgment order refusing to unseal records.…

In Hermosillo v. Davey Tree Surgery Co., a divided Ninth Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to review a decision ordering class-wide arbitration over a request for individual arbitration. Under the Federal Arbitration Act, district court decisions ordering arbitration generally are not appealable. Decisions denying requests for arbitration generally are.…

Last week, the Eleventh Circuit addressed its appellate jurisdiction after some claims have been voluntarily dismissed without prejudice. The Fourth Circuit held that defendants can forfeit the Bivens question in an interlocutory qualified-immunity appeal. The Federal Circuit reviewed a non-final order from the Veterans Court. And the reply in support of cert was filed in a case that asks the Supreme Court to address the scope of remand appeals under 28 U.S.C.…

In Corley v. Long-Lewis, Inc., the Eleventh Circuit held that a district court’s resolution of all claims was final and appealable despite the plaintiffs’ voluntarily dismissing some of those claims without prejudice. In doing so, the court had to wade through its conflicting lines of authority in this area—one holding that the resolution of all claims is final despite the voluntary dismissal, the other holding that it’s not.…

In Hicks v. Ferreya, the Fourth Circuit refused to address the Bivens question in an interlocutory qualified-immunity appeal. The Bivens question—which asks whether an implied constitutional cause of action exists for a federal official’s alleged violation of the plaintiff’s rights—is normally appealable alongside the denial of qualified immunity. But the defendants in Hicks failed to raise the issue in the district court.…