Appealability & Review AND (Erie) Law Applied by Fed Courts Flashcards
In what timeframe must you file a Notice of Appeal?
= must file Notice of Appeal WITHIN 30 Days of judgment
What are the grounds for appealing a judgment?
a Party’s grounds for appealing a judgment = the objections that Party raised at trial, AND the basis for each objection
*if Party doesn’t PRESERVE its grounds for appeal by raising his objections at Trial → then Party has WAIVED those potential grounds for appeal
When may a Party appeal an alleged error by the Trial Court?
a Party MAY appeal an alleged error by the Trial Court if…
= IF, but for the error, the outcome of the Case would have been different
*so, CANNOT appeal if error was “harmless”
To appeal a case, what must its disposition be by the Trial Court?
To appeal a case, generally, the Trial Court must have issued the FINAL JUDGMENT
*but there are some EXCEPTIONS:
- Collateral Appeal Exception
What’s an Interlocutory Order? Examples?
Can it be appealed?
Interlocutory Order = an order issued by the Judge BEFORE his Final Judgment
*generally, an Interlocutory Order CANNOT be appealed
E.g., these are Interlocutory Orders which CANNOT be appealed b/c they’re not considered ‘final judgments’:
- Lack of Jurisdiction
- Improper Venue
- Failure to Join an Indispensable Party
**BUT there’s the Collateral Order Exception
Collateral Order
Collateral Order Exception: a District Court’s Collateral Order (one that’s issued before Final Judgment) CAN be appealed IF…
1) the Order conclusively determines the disputed question,
2) the Order resolves an important issue that’s completely SEPARATE from the merits of the action, AND
3) waiting until Final Judgment is issued would make the Order effectively unappealable (delay would cause irreparable damage)
If there’s a suit with multiple claims, and the Judge issues an order on only one of the Claims, is that one order appealable?
If there’s a suit with multiple claims, and the Judge issues an order on only one of the Claims → that is NOT appealable b/c resolving ONLY one of multiple claims in a suit is NOT a Final Judgment
*UNLESS the Judge finds “no reason to delay” and issues a Final Judgment on that
When is a Judge’s denial of a Motion for Summary Judgment appealable?
= not appealable until AFTER the Trial
When is a Judge’s Order for a New Trial appealable?
= order for a New Trial is NOT appealable - b/c it’s not a Final Judgment
Partial Final Judgment
= courts AVOID issuing Partial Final Judgments b/c they create problems for the appeals process
Is a grant / denial of an Injunction appealable?
= a grant / denial of an Injunction IS appealable
Is the certification / denial of a Class Action appealable?
= a certification / denial of a Class Action IS appealable
What’s the Standard of Review for issues of law?
the Standard of Review for issues of LAW = “De Novo” review
What’s the Standard of Review when a court has erred (e.g., relevancy, prejudice, admissibility, other legal errors)?
when a court has erred, the Standard of Review is → whether that error was an “Abuse of Discretion” by the court
e.g., relevancy, prejudice, admissibility, other legal errors
What’s the Standard of Review for issues of fact?
the Standard of Review for issues of FACT = whether the court’s determination of the facts was “Clearly Erroneous”
