Questions?

1. Questions?

2. Today’s Class • The Final Judgment Rule: • Wetzel. • Exceptions to the Final Judgment Rule: • Collateral Order Doctrine. Lauro Lines. • Injunctive relief. • Certification. • Mandamus. • Winning an Appeal After You Get One: • “Clearly Erroneous.” • Harmless Error.

3. What is a final judgment/decision? A final judgment is “one which ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but to execute the judgment.” Catlin v. United States, 324 U.S. 229, 233 (1945).

4. HYPO Kim Kardashian sues Ray J in federal district court for breach of contract. During discovery in the case, Kardashian files a motion to compel a copy of a sex tape she made with Ray J that is in Ray J’s possession. The district court denies Kardashian’s motion to compel, ruling that the tape is not relevant to Kardashian’s claim. Is the district court’s denial of Kardashian’s motion to compel a “final decision” that Kardashian may appeal?

5. Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Wetzel

6. What’s a notice of appeal? A notice of appeal is a piece of paper that: • States the name of the party who is appealing the decision; • States the order or judgment that is being appealed; and • Names the court to which the appeal is being taken. See Fed. Rule Appellate Procedure 3(c)(1).

7. Lauro Lines s.r.l. v. Chasser

8. The Minimum Essential Elements of the Collateral Order Doctrine • The order must “conclusively determine the disputed question”; • The order must “resolve an important issue completely separate from the merits of the action”; -A right is “important” when it is “sufficiently important to overcome the policies militating against interlocutory appeals” (Scalia concurrence) • The order must be “effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment.” -An order is “effectively unreviewable” when “the order at issue involves ‘an asserted right the legal and practical value of which would be destroyed if it were not vindicated before trial.”

9. HYPO Wetzel sues Liberty Insurance Company for sex discrimination under Title VII. Wetzel seeks several forms of relief, including an injunction preventing the company from engaging in certain practices, compensatory damages, and attorney’s fees. The district court finds Liberty Mutual liable for sex discrimination and enters an injunction preventing the company from engaging in certain employment practices the district court has found to be discriminatory. The district court, however, declines to rule on the request for compensatory damages, saying it will deal with that issue at a later date. Can Liberty Insurance Company appeal?

10. 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a) . . . the courts of appeals shall have jurisdiction of appeals from: (1) Interlocutory orders of the district courts… granting, continuing, modifying, refusing or dissolving injunctions . . .

11. 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) • Three elements: • Controlling question of law; • Substantial ground for difference of opinion; and • Immediate appeal from the order may materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation.

13. Exceptions to the Final Judgment Rule • Collateral order doctrine. Judicially created doctrine. • Order involving injunctions. § 1292(a). • Certification of the question for appeal. § 1292(b). • Writ of mandamus. All Writs Act; 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a).