Posts in category “Appellate Decisions”

Actions consolidated in multidistrict litigation (or MDL) normally retain their individual character for finality purposes. So the resolution of a single action in an MDL is final and appealable regardless of whether other actions remain pending.

Things can get complicated, however, if the parties file consolidated pleadings after the actions are joined in the MDL.…

Last summer, in SmileDirectClub, LLC v. Battle, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed an interlocutory denial of a state-action antitrust/Parker defense. The decision produced three different opinions on appellate jurisdiction. The majority applied long-standing Eleventh Circuit law holding that these denials are immediately appealable via the collateral-order doctrine. Dissenting, Judge Tjoflat argued that the order in SmileDirectClub did not conclusively decide the Parker issue, such that the collateral-order doctrine did not apply.…

Appellate jurisdiction in bankruptcy cases can get complicated. The rules of finality are different in bankruptcy. And bankruptcy involves an extra tier of intermediate appellate review: litigants initially appeal bankruptcy court decisions to either a district court or a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Litigants can then seek further review in the courts of appeals.…

In In re Tennial, the Sixth Circuit held that bankruptcy’s 14-day deadline for filing an appeal is not jurisdictional. In doing so, the court split with every other court of appeals to address this issue. The Supreme Court has drawn a fairly clear line between deadlines found in statutes—which are jurisdictional—and those found only in rules of procedure—which aren’t.…

District courts sometimes dismiss a case with leave to refile within a certain amount of time. The courts of appeals have split on when—if ever—these dismissals become final and appealable. Last week, in North American Butterfly Association v. Wolf, the D.C. Circuit weighed in on the issue. In a split decision, the court held that a plaintiff can appeal after the time to amend expires.…

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure define a “judgment” as any decree or order from which an appeal lies. But just because a district court calls something a “judgment” does not mean that the court has entered a final, appealable decision. (And the rule that anything appealable is a “judgment” is not really followed.)…

A few weeks ago, in Edwards v. 4JLJ, L.L.C., the Fifth Circuit held that an appellee could forfeit an objection to the timeliness of a civil appeal. That struck me as odd. Appeal deadlines that come from statutes are jurisdictional. The 30-day deadline for civil appeals comes from a statute: 28 U.S.C.…

With rare exceptions, defendants appealing from the denial of qualified immunity at summary judgment can dispute only the materiality of any fact disputes. These defendants cannot argue that the district court erred in concluding that fact disputes were genuine—that is, they cannot dispute the district court’s determination of what a reasonable jury could find.…

In Hanover American Insurance Co. v. Tattooed Millionaire Entertainment, LLC, the Sixth Circuit held that failure to file a pre-verdict Rule 50(a) motion for judgment as a matter of law forfeits the right to renew that motion via Rule 50(b). At the close of evidence, the plaintiff in Hanover Insurance moved for judgment as a matter of law on claims involving only two of the three defendants.…

In 2018’s Hall v. Hall, the Supreme Court held that actions consolidated with other actions retain their independent character. So the resolution of one action is final and appealable, regardless of whether the other actions remain pending. Hall left some unanswered questions. Among them was what would become of pre-Hall judgments that were not immediately appealable under then-applicable circuit law.…