A little Q&A I did for the ABA Commission on Disability Rights regarding my latest empirical work on how courts are interpreting the definition of disability under the ADA.
www.americanbar.org/groups/diver...
November's roundup features ineffective attempts at voluntarily dismissing discrete claims, which have me wondering whether courts are really dealing with discrete theories. Plus the appeal clock for granted post-judgment motions and more.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/the-month-in...
This 11th Cir. decision—that a written, pretrial notice of intent not to pursue a theory was insufficient to resolve a "claim"—has me wondering: how often are courts addressing discrete claims rather than discrete theories of relief?
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/no-finality-...
Congratulations to Professor Nicole Buonocore Porter @WM.edu Law School for winning the AALS Section on Law Professors with Disabilities and Allies' 2026 Chai Feldblum Award!
W&M 3Ls Jon Gharib, Jack Kerdasha, and Raahim Zaidi did excellent work on this brief. My immense thanks to them.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
The William & Mary Appellate Clinic just filed the brief discussed in this @law360.bsky.social article. We argued (among other things) that qualified immunity is not a defense in FMLA actions against public officials.
Link to the brief next.
www.law360.com/employment/a...
This roundup features a new split on appealing denials of anti-SLAPP motions under California law. The en banc 9th Cir. overruled its caselaw allowing these appeals, but only a few days later the Fed. Cir. held that these denials are appealable.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/the-month-in...
Screenshot of a judicial opinion. The relevant text reads: We do not hold here that denials of anti-SLAPP motions to strike arising under any state's law are immediately appealable as a matter of right before this Court. Our holding today applies only, at this point, to California's anti-SLAPP statute. If we are presented with a case arising under another state's law, in determining whether we have appellate jurisdiction for a given case raising an issue regarding an anti-SLAPP motion to strike, we must evaluate the relevant state's anti-SLAPP statute at issue on appeal and evaluate how that tool has been exercised in practice to understand whether that given instance comports with the collateral-order exception to the final decision rule under Federal Circuit law.
One week after the 9th Cir. overrules its caselaw permitting immediate appeals of anti-SLAPP denials under California law, the Fed. Cir. held that those denials are immediately appealable. No mention of the 9th Cir.'s en banc decision.
#AppellateSky
www.cafc.uscourts.gov/opinions-ord...
My September 2025 appellate-jurisdiction roundup features minute orders as separate documents, contract formation issues in arbitration appeals, pendent appellate jurisdiction over standing, and more.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/the-month-in...
Somewhat relatedly, there was also a recent decision from the Seventh Circuit on the deadline for seeking a partial judgment under Rule 54(b).
finaldecisions.org/the-timeline...
A few years ago, it looked like courts were starting to re-examine whether district courts can "re-certify" orders after a party misses the deadline for seeking permission to appeal.
finaldecisions.org/another-cour...
My August appellate-jurisdiction roundup features a new circuit split on the deadline for appealing qualified-immunity denials. There were also interesting decisions on injunction appeals and remand appeals, plus some more qualified-immunity issues.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/the-month-in...
Interesting decision yesterday from the 11th Cir underscoring circuit precedent that could (and in this case did) catch the unwary. District ct granted a motion to dismiss but w/ leave to amend and with an order that the clerk should enter a separate dismissal order if the plaintiff didn't amend. 1/
I saw this decision, too, and I think it's seriously mistaken—and not in the way the panel seemed to think. This looks like a case of conflating the existence of a "final decisions" (which give appellate courts jurisdiction) with the entry of a "final judgment" (which starts the appeal clock).
Catching up on July's appellate-jurisdiction developments, with decisions on the collateral-order doctrine, dismissals of plaintiffs via Rule 41, failures to object to magistrate judges' orders, and more.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/the-month-in...
New appellate-jurisdiction roundup featuring decisions on relating forward notices of appeal, automatic stays for remand appeals, deficient final judgments, preservation, and much more.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/the-month-in...
The Fourth Circuit held that failure to object to a magistrate judge's order was a preservation issue, not a jurisdictional one.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/jurisdiction...
My quick read suggests that this makes the common mistake (at 15–16) of thinking that a defense's being an immunity is sufficient for the collateral-order doctrine. But a defense still needs to be separate from the merits, which many (most? all?) defenses aren't.
finaldecisions.org/immunities-t...
I wrote a bit about this a few weeks ago, when Judge Oldham mentioned it in a footnote that the other panel members didn't join.
finaldecisions.org/questioning-...
The Tenth Circuit had jurisdiction to review a civil-contempt order that imposed a $1,000/day fine. Although the ultimate sanction was not yet determined, it was sufficiently specific.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/contempt-app...
The Seventh Circuit explained both the problems of and the potential solutions to final judgments that fail to mention all claims.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/dealing-with...
Short post on the Supreme Court's decision in Parrish, which held that a premature notice of appeal relates forward to the district court's reopening of the appeal period.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/parrish-rela...
I say this with no irony. I love dorky procedural issues. I often write briefs like I am slogging through molasses, but let me loose on an appellate-jurisdiction question and my fingers fly.
Screenshot of the first page of the Supreme Court's opinion in Parrish v. United States.
Invoking the longstanding federal practice of cumulative finality—which often gives effect to premature notices of appeal—the Supreme Court held in Parrish that a premature notice of appeal related forward to the reopening of the appeal period.
#AppellateSky
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
The Ninth Circuit held that an appeal from a remand order does not automatically stay the remand.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/ninth-circui...
The Fifth Circuit held that the government's failure to invoke an unconditional guilty plea waived the defendant's waiver of a suppression issue.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/waiving-or-f...
The Seventh Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to immediately review an order that narrowed—but not denied—the potential injunctive relief in an action.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/narrowing-v-...
New appellate-jurisdiction roundup, featuring effective injunction denials, appealing waiver-based remands, questioning the collateral-order doctrine and pendent appellate jurisdiction, and more.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/the-month-in...
A Fifth Circuit decision expressed some doubts about the collateral-order doctrine and pendent appellate jurisdiction.
#AppellateSky
finaldecisions.org/questioning-...
