Note by Kathleen Brame
In a product liability action, the Federal District Court for the Western District of Missouri denied the defendant's motion to disqualify plaintiff's counsel. The defendant immediately appealed the denial, an interlocutory order, to the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit pursuant to the collateral order exception. Before affirming the lower court's denial of the disqualification motion on its merits, the Eighth Circuit reconsidered its practice of allowing interlocutory appeals of disqualification denial orders and held that henceforth such appeals must await final judgment of the entire case. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve the conflict among the circuit courts regarding the appealability of disqualification denial orders and held that disqualification denial orders do not fall within the scope of the collateral order doctrine and therefore are not appealable until after a final judgment has been rendered by the district court. Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. v. Risjord, 449 U.S. 368 (1981).
About the Author
Kathleen Brame.
Citation
56 Tul. L. Rev. 1035 (1982)