FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

HARRISON ORR, 

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

PLUMB, Officer, California Highway 

Patrol,

Defendant-Appellant,

and

BRAME, Officer, California 

Highway Patrol; STATE OF 

CALIFORNIA; CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY 

PATROL,

Defendants.

No. 16-15014 

D.C. No. 

2:14-cv-00585-

WBS-EFB 

OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of California

William B. Shubb, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted August 18, 2017

San Francisco, California

Filed March 12, 2018
2 ORR V. PLUMB

Before: Johnnie B. Rawlinson and Jacqueline H. Nguyen, 

Circuit Judges, and Sarah S. Vance,* District Judge.

Opinion by Judge Nguyen;

Dissent by Judge Rawlinson

SUMMARY**

Civil Rights

The panel dismissed, for lack of jurisdiction, a 

defendant’s appeal from the district court’s judgment on a 

jury’s special verdict in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action.

The panel held that the appeal was not timely filed under 

28 U.S.C. § 2107, Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4, 

and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58. The panel held that 

because the district court never entered a separate judgment

pertaining to the jury’s verdict, Rule 58(c)’s alternative 

provision for entry of judgment kicked in after 150 days. 

The panel determined that the special jury verdict in this case 

was a full adjudication of the issues and therefore entry of 

the jury special verdict started the 150-day countdown to 

November 16, 2015. Defendant then had 30 days to appeal. 

He did not file the notice of appeal of the jury special verdict 

until 49 days later, on January 4, 2016, rendering the appeal 

untimely.

 

* The Honorable Sarah S. Vance, United States District Judge for 

the Eastern District of Louisiana, sitting by designation.

** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It 

has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.
ORR V. PLUMB 3

Dissenting, Judge Rawlinson stated that she disagreed 

with the majority’s conclusion that defendant’s appeal of the 

jury’s special verdict was untimely. Judge Rawlinson stated 

that defendant’s “untimely” appeal was the result of a

procedural morass not of his making, and should not result 

in the loss of his right to appeal. 

COUNSEL

Krista Dunzweiler (argued) and Stephen C. Pass, Deputy 

Attorneys General; Peter A. Meshot, Supervising Deputy 

Attorney General; Kristin G. Hogue, Senior Assistant 

Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General,

Sacramento, California; for Defendant-Appellant.

Michael J. Haddad (argued), Julia Sherwin, and T. Kennedy 

Helm, Haddad & Sherwin LLP, Oakland, California; 

Richard M. Pearl (argued), Law Offices of Richard M. Pearl, 

Berkeley, California; for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Peter J. Eliasberg, ACLU Foundation of Southern 

California, Los Angeles, California; Carol A. Sobel, Law 

Office of Carol A. Sobel, Santa Monica, California; for 

Amici Curiae ACLU of Southern California, ACLU of

Northern California, ACLU of San Diego and Imperial 

County, and National Police Accountability Project.
4 ORR V. PLUMB

OPINION

NGUYEN, Circuit Judge:

Terrence Plumb appeals the district court’s judgment on 

the jury’s special verdict in this § 1983 case.1 The threshold 

issue is whether his appeal is timely under 28 U.S.C. § 2107, 

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4 (“Rule 4”), and 

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58 (“Rule 58”). We 

conclude that it isn’t. Because the district court never 

entered a separate judgment, Rule 58(c)’s alternative 

provision for entry of judgment kicked in after 150 days. 

Plumb didn’t file his notice of appeal until more than 30 days 

thereafter. Consequently, his appeal of the special verdict is 

untimely, and we lack jurisdiction to consider it.

I.

Harrison Orr was driving five miles per hour below the 

highway’s posted limit. He was 76 years old, and his license 

plates indicated that he had a disability. California Highway 

Patrol (“CHP”) officer Jay Brame observed Orr’s vehicle 

drift halfway into the next lane. Brame pulled him over, 

suspecting that he was driving under the influence of alcohol 

or drugs. Although Orr was cooperative and answered 

Brame’s questions, his pupils were constricted, his speech 

was slurred, and he couldn’t maintain his balance unassisted. 

Orr explained that his trouble balancing was due to a 

brainstem stroke that he had suffered.

 

1 We resolve Plumb’s appeal of the district court’s denial of his 

motion for judgment as a matter of law, no. 15-16514, and plaintiff’s 

appeal of the partial denial of his motion for attorney’s fees, no. 

16-15109, in a concurrently filed memorandum disposition.
ORR V. PLUMB 5

A second officer, Plumb, came to assist. A breath test 

ruled out alcohol intoxication. Orr agreed to go with the 

officers to the station for drug testing but told them he 

couldn’t be handcuffed because he needed the use of his 

hands and arms for balance and control. Orr passively 

resisted being handcuffed by folding his arms across his 

chest and twisting his upper torso back and forth. When 

Brame wasn’t looking, Plumb punched Orr in the stomach. 

Orr fell to the ground, and the officers handcuffed him. At 

the station, they determined he wasn’t under the influence of 

drugs. Orr was charged with resisting arrest but later 

released. The district attorney declined to prosecute Orr due 

to insufficient evidence.

Orr sued the two officers and the CHP on various federal 

and state law grounds regarding the arrest, the amount of 

force used, and defendants’ alleged failure to accommodate 

his disability. On June 17, 2015, the jury returned a special 

verdict that was entirely favorable to Brame and the CHP. 

But the jury found that Plumb used excessive force in 

arresting Orr and awarded $125,000 in damages. The same 

day, the clerk entered the special verdict into the docket 

along with a minute order stating, “verdict returned, read and 

filed in favor of plaintiff.”

The following week, Plumb moved for judgment as a 

matter of law (“JMOL”) under Federal Rule of Civil 

Procedure 50(b). The district court denied the motion in a 

July 8, 2015 order. Plumb filed a notice of appeal later that 

month. The notice specified that he was appealing the 

JMOL ruling and gave no indication that he intended to 

appeal anything else.

In August 2015, Orr moved for attorneys’ fees. In 

December, while the fee motion was under submission, 
6 ORR V. PLUMB

Plumb submitted his opening brief in the appeal of the JMOL 

order. Like the notice of appeal, the opening brief contained 

no hint that Plumb planned to appeal anything else. In fact, 

Plumb stated that the JMOL order “was the district court’s 

final one on the issues of [his] liability.” On December 22, 

2015, the district court partially granted Orr’s request for 

attorneys’ fees.

Plumb filed a second notice of appeal on January 4, 

2016, stating that the appeal was “from Judgment based on 

the Special Verdict.” He asserted that the judgment “was 

entered as a matter of law pursuant to [Rule] 58(c)(2)(B) 150 

days after the [JMOL order].” Orr appealed the order 

regarding attorneys’ fees on January 18, 2016.

On February 1, 2016, the district clerk signed and 

entered a document captioned “Judgment in a Civil Case.” 

The clerk’s judgment ordered “that judgment is hereby 

entered in accordance with the jury verdict rendered 

6/17/2015.”

After the briefing in Plumb’s appeal of the JMOL order 

was complete, we consolidated the three appeals. The 

parties then submitted a second round of briefing addressing 

this appeal and Orr’s appeal of the fee order.

II.

A.

Unless the district court extends the deadline within the 

prescribed time, “the timely filing of a notice of appeal in a 

civil case is a jurisdictional requirement.” Bowles v. Russell, 

551 U.S. 205, 214 (2007)); see Hamer v. Neighborhood 

Hous. Servs. of Chicago, 138 S. Ct. 13, 21 (2017). Whether 

a notice of appeal is timely filed depends on when the order 
ORR V. PLUMB 7

or judgment appealed from is entered. A notice of appeal 

generally must be filed “within thirty days after the entry.” 

28 U.S.C. § 2107(a); accord Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A).

Rule 58 sets forth the framework for determining when 

and how an appealable order or judgment is entered. Since 

its adoption in 1938, the rule has been consistent in two 

respects. It requires prompt entry of judgment,2 and it 

distinguishes between the “uncomplicated” judgments that 

are normally issued by the clerk without further direction 

from the court and the more complex ones that require the 

court’s involvement. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 58, advisory 

committee’s note to 1963 amendment. In particular, 

judgments on general jury verdicts may be entered by the 

clerk without the court’s direction, but the court must 

“approve the form of the judgment” on a jury special verdict. 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(b).

Notwithstanding this consistency, Rule 58 has 

undergone two significant changes. In 1963 it was amended 

to require that every judgment “be set forth on a separate 

document.”3 Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(a). The “sole purpose” of 

 

2 The current version of Rule 58 requires both court and clerk to act 

“promptly.” Originally, the rule stated that the judge should 

“promptly . . . approve the form of the judgment,” if required, and the 

clerk should in all cases enter the judgment “forthwith.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 

58 (1938). To give a sense of what the rule meant by “promptly” and 

“forthwith,” the original Advisory Committee Notes reference the time 

periods established in various states, which ranged from 24 hours (Idaho 

and Montana) to one week (Connecticut).

3 The 1963 amendment largely prohibited attorneys from submitting 

the separate documents. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 58 (1963) (“Attorneys shall 

not submit forms of judgment except upon direction of the court, and 

these directions shall not be given as a matter of course.”). This 

prohibition was “to avoid the delays that were frequently encountered by 
8 ORR V. PLUMB

requiring a separate document for the court’s judgment “was 

to clarify when the time for appeal . . . begins to run.” 

Whitaker v. Garcetti, 486 F.3d 572, 579 (9th Cir. 2007) 

(omission in Whitaker) (quoting Bankers Tr. Co. v. Mallis, 

435 U.S. 381, 384 (1978) (per curiam)). Prior to this 

amendment, parties frequently had difficulty ascertaining 

whether a court’s ruling contained all of the elements of a 

judgment and thus whether it started the time limits for posttrial motions and appeals. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 58, advisory 

committee’s note to 1963 amendment. The confusion could 

have harsh consequences, particularly with the rule then in 

effect that a premature notice of appeal was ineffectual if 

certain post-decision motions were also filed. See Fed. R. 

Civ. P. 73(a) (1946); Otis v. City of Chicago, 29 F.3d 1159, 

1166 (7th Cir. 1994) (en banc) (discussing the “trap that 

caused appeals filed before the disposition of a motion for 

reconsideration to self-destruct and thereby cost many 

parties, who were not keenly aware of the niceties of 

appellate practice, any opportunity for review”).4

The use of a separate document to signify that a 

judgment was ripe for appeal, while largely eliminating 

 

the former practice of directing the attorneys for the prevailing party to 

prepare a form of judgment, and also to avoid the occasionally inept 

drafting that resulted from attorney-prepared judgments.” Fed. R. Civ. 

P. 58, advisory committee’s note to 2002 amendment. It was replaced 

by Rule 58(d), which “allow[s] any party to move for entry of judgment 

on a separate document” and was designed to “protect all needs for 

prompt commencement of the periods for motions, appeals, and 

execution or other enforcement.” Id.

4 This trap was eliminated in the 1979 and 1993 amendments to Rule 

4, the “theme” of which “is that decisions may become final and 

appealable after their announcement or entry, and that to preserve the 

right of appellate review courts should permit parties to appeal either 

before or after the technical date of ‘finality.’” Otis, 29 F.3d at 1166.
ORR V. PLUMB 9

uncertainty, created its own set of problems. Courts often 

neglected to enter judgment on a separate document, with 

the result that the time to appeal never began to run. To 

address the “many and horridly confused problems” created 

by these lapses, Rule 58 was amended in 2002 “to ensure 

that appeal time does not linger on indefinitely.” Fed. R. 

Civ. P. 58, advisory committee’s note to 2002 amendment.

Currently, for purposes of appeal and post-decision 

motion deadlines, final judgments are entered “the earlier 

of” the date that the decision is set out in a separate document 

and 150 days after it is entered in the docket. Fed. R. Civ. P. 

58(c)(2). In other words, if both “court and clerk fail to 

comply with [the] simple requirement” of entering final 

judgment on a separate document, then judgment is 

constructively entered on the 150th day. Fed. R. Civ. P. 58, 

advisory committee’s note to 2002 amendment. For orders 

resolving certain separately appealable post-decision 

motions, including JMOL motions under Federal Rule of 

Civil Procedure 50(b), no separate document is required;

“judgment” on these orders occurs when they are entered in 

the docket. Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(a), (c)(1).

B.

The term “judgment” is defined broadly to include “any 

order from which an appeal lies.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(a). In 

other words, it is a final order or decision. E.g., Bankers Tr. 

Co., 435 U.S. at 384 n.2; United States v. Martin, 226 F.3d 

1042, 1048 (9th Cir. 2000). In determining whether a 

disposition is final, we employ “‘a practical rather than a 

technical’ analysis.” Bishop Paiute Tribe v. Inyo County, 

863 F.3d 1144, 1151 n.2 (9th Cir. 2017) (quoting Gillespie 

v. U.S. Steel Corp., 379 U.S. 148, 152 (1964)); see Rule 58, 

advisory committee’s note to 2002 amendment (“The . . . 
10 ORR V. PLUMB

definition of the entry of judgment must be applied with 

common sense . . . .”).

A jury verdict is not directly appealable because a 

separate document is required—with the court’s approval in 

the case of a special verdict—in order to constitute a formal 

judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(a), (b)(2)(A); see In re RhonePoulenc Rorer, Inc., 51 F.3d 1293, 1297 (7th Cir. 1995) 

(“[A] verdict as such is not an appealable order.”). However, 

a verdict is “final,” and eventually appealable after actual or 

constructive judgment is entered, if it “ends the litigation on 

the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute 

the judgment.” Klestadt & Winters, LLP v. Cangelosi, 672 

F.3d 809, 813 (9th Cir. 2012) (quoting Catlin v. United 

States, 324 U.S. 229, 233 (1945)); cf. Casey v. Long Island 

R.R., 406 F.3d 142, 147–48 (2d Cir. 2005) (assuming that 

after the 2002 amendments to Rule 58, a jury special verdict 

would trigger the 150-day alternative date for entry of 

judgment).

The special verdict here was “a full adjudication of the 

issues.” Van Dusen v. Swift Transp. Co., 830 F.3d 893, 896 

(9th Cir. 2016) (quoting Nat’l Distrib. Agency v. Nationwide 

Mut. Ins., 117 F.3d 432, 433 (9th Cir. 1997)). It established 

that Plumb is liable to Orr for $125,000 and the other 

defendants are not liable. There was nothing further for the 

court to do other than enter a separate judgment 

memorializing the jury’s findings. That the special verdict 

left nothing to be decided is evident both from Plumb’s 

decision to appeal it before a separate judgment was entered, 

and from the clerk’s judgment, which purported to enter 

judgment “in accordance with the jury verdict” without 

further explanation.
ORR V. PLUMB 11

Therefore, entry of the jury special verdict started the 

150-day countdown to November 16, 2015,5 when an 

appealable judgment on the jury special verdict was 

constructively entered due to the district court’s inaction. By 

allowing the jury special verdict to stand without modifying 

or vacating it prior to the constructive entry of judgment, the 

district judge “clearly evidence[d] [his] intention that it be 

the court’s final act in the matter.” Van Dusen, 830 F.3d at 

896 (quoting Nat’l Distrib. Agency, 117 F.3d at 433). Plumb 

then had 30 days to appeal. He did not file the notice of 

appeal of the jury special verdict until 49 days later, on 

January 4, 2016, rendering the appeal untimely.

C.

Plumb argues that the special verdict’s entry in the 

docket couldn’t have triggered the 150-day period 

culminating in the entry of judgment because the district 

court didn’t approve its form and the clerk didn’t enter it on

a separate document as required by Rule 58(b)(2). Rule 

58(b) describes how the separate judgment must be prepared 

and entered, but only if one is necessary. Rule 58(c) clarifies 

that entry of a separate judgment, even if required under 

Rule 58(a), is not necessary to start the time to appeal, which 

occurs automatically after 150 days.6 In adopting the 2002 

 

5 The 150th day fell on a Saturday. Judgment on the special verdict 

was constructively entered on the following Monday pursuant to Federal 

Rule of Civil Procedure 6.

6

In relevant part, Rule 58 provides:

(a) Separate Document. Every judgment and 

amended judgment must be set out in a separate 

document, but a separate document is not required 

for an order disposing of a motion:
12 ORR V. PLUMB

 

(1) for judgment under Rule 50(b);

(2) to amend or make additional findings under 

Rule 52(b);

(3) for attorney’s fees under Rule 54;

(4) for a new trial, or to alter or amend the 

judgment, under Rule 59; or

(5) for relief under Rule 60.

(b) Entering Judgment.

(1) Without the Court’s Direction. Subject to 

Rule 54(b) and unless the court orders 

otherwise, the clerk must, without awaiting 

the court’s direction, promptly prepare, sign, 

and enter the judgment when:

(A) the jury returns a general verdict;

(B) the court awards only costs or a sum 

certain; or

(C) the court denies all relief.

(2) Court’s Approval Required. Subject to Rule 

54(b), the court must promptly approve the 

form of the judgment, which the clerk must 

promptly enter, when:

(A) the jury returns a special verdict or a 

general verdict with answers to written 

questions; or

(B) the court grants other relief not described 

in this subdivision (b).

(c) Time of Entry. For purposes of these rules, 

judgment is entered at the following times:

(1) if a separate document is not required, when 

the judgment is entered in the civil docket 

under Rule 79(a); or

(2) if a separate document is required, when the 

judgment is entered in the civil docket under 

Rule 79(a) and the earlier of these events 

occurs:

(A) it is set out in a separate document; or

(B) 150 days have run from the entry in the 

civil docket.
ORR V. PLUMB 13

amendments, Congress “decided that ensuring finality 

eventually becomes more important than strictly enforcing 

Rule 58’s separate document requirement.” Harmston v. 

City & County of San Francisco, 627 F.3d 1273, 1280 (9th 

Cir. 2010).

The Fifth Circuit has characterized Plumb’s argument 

“as diametrically contrary to the text, purpose and design of 

the integrated system established by [Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure] 58 and 79 and [Federal Rule of Appellate 

Procedure] 4.” Burnley v. City of San Antonio, 470 F.3d 189, 

196 (5th Cir. 2006).7 We agree. As Burnley observed, such 

a reading of Rule 58(b) “would render the 150-day cap 

required by [Rule 58(c)] meaningless and defeat the purpose 

of the 2002 amendments.” Id. Under Rule 58(c)(2)(B), “the 

cap only begins to run upon the clerk’s entry of judgment in 

the civil docket; if the clerk cannot make a valid entry of 

judgment when the Court defaults on its duty, as [Plumb] 

contends, the cap could never begin to run in the very cases 

in which it was intended to apply.” Id.

Plumb suggests two alternative dates as having triggered 

the time to appeal the jury special verdict. First, he asserts 

that the district court’s order denying his JMOL motion was 

“the only ‘judgment’ for purposes of Rule 58 that could start 

the 150 day period running under . . . Rule 58(c)(2).” Under 

this theory, the 150-day period ran from entry of the JMOL 

order and ended on December 7, 2015; Plumb’s notice of 

appeal, filed less than 30 days later, was timely.

 

7 Burnley involved a general verdict accompanied by 

interrogatories, which is treated the same as a special verdict. See Fed. 

R. Civ. P. 58(b)(2)(A).
14 ORR V. PLUMB

Plumb’s theory fails to account for Rule 4(a)(4) and Rule 

58(a)(1) and (c)(1). Rule 4(a)(4)(A) pertains to six postdecision motions, including one for JMOL under Rule 50(b). 

Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(4)(A)(i). It provides that if a party 

timely files one of these motions, then “the time to file an 

appeal runs . . . from the entry of the order disposing of the 

last such remaining motion.” Id. R. 4(a)(4)(A). Rule 58 is 

in accord. It provides that “an order disposing of a motion” 

for JMOL under Rule 50(b) does not require a separate 

document setting out the judgment, Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(a)(1), 

and judgment on the JMOL order therefore occurs “when the 

judgment [i.e., the order] is entered in the civil docket.” Id.

R. 58(c)(1). There is no basis for imputing entry of an 

unnecessary separate judgment 150 days after entry of the 

JMOL order. Moreover, Plumb’s theory conflicts with our 

previous holding that when the district court rules on a Rule 

50(b) motion before entering final judgment in the case, the 

time to appeal runs from the entry of final judgment. See

ABF Capital Corp. v. Osley, 414 F.3d 1061, 1064–65 (9th 

Cir. 2005).

Plumb also suggests that the clerk’s judgment entered on

February 1, 2016, started his time to appeal. There are 

several problems with this theory. To begin with, “[t]he 

rules plainly provide that judgment is entered when it is set 

forth on a separate document or when 150 days have run, 

whichever is earlier.” Stephanie-Cardona LLC v. Smith’s 

Food & Drug Ctrs., Inc., 476 F.3d 701, 704 (9th Cir. 2007). 

“Because more than 150 days passed before the [clerk], for 

whatever reason, issued a judgment on a separate document, 

the 30 days in which to file a notice of appeal had been 

running from November [16, 2015], the end of the 150-day 

period.” Id. “[I]f, after filing a final disposition, a court files 

a more formal judgment, the latter does not constitute a 

second final disposition or extend the appeal period.” S.L. 
ORR V. PLUMB 15

ex rel. Loof v. Upland Unified Sch. Dist., 747 F.3d 1155, 

1161 (9th Cir. 2014) (quoting In re Slimick, 928 F.2d 304, 

307 (9th Cir. 1990)).

Moreover, by filing the notice of appeal before the clerk 

entered judgment in a separate document, Plumb waived any 

reliance on it. “A failure to set forth a judgment or order on 

a separate document when required by Federal Rule of Civil 

Procedure 58(a) does not affect the validity of an appeal 

from that judgment or order.” Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(7)(B). 

Consequently, “when the parties treat a fully dispositive 

summary judgment order as if it were a final judgment, the 

requirement in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58 that the 

judgment ‘be set forth on a separate document’ can be 

waived.” Whitaker, 486 F.3d at 579–80 (quoting Casey v. 

Albertson’s Inc., 362 F.3d 1254, 1256 (9th Cir. 2004)); see

Bankers Tr. Co., 435 U.S. at 384–88.

Even if, for the sake of argument, we accept Plumb’s 

position that compliance with Rule 58(b)(2) was necessary, 

the clerk’s verdict did not meet that standard because the 

district court was required to “approve the form of the 

judgment.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(b)(2). That means, at a 

minimum, that the district judge must sign the judgment. See

Steccone v. Morse-Starrett Prods. Co., 191 F.2d 197, 200 

(9th Cir. 1951); see also Levin v. Wear-Ever Aluminum, Inc., 

427 F.2d 847, 849 (3d Cir. 1970) (concluding that separate 

judgment on jury special verdict must be “prepared and 

signed” to comply with Rule 58); cf. United States v. F. & 

M. Schaefer Brewing Co., 356 U.S. 227, 235–36 (1958) 

(construing judge’s “signing and filing the formal 

‘judgment’” as evidence of judge’s intent that it “constitute 

his final judgment in the case”).
16 ORR V. PLUMB

Plumb is not, as he claims, being “penalized . . . because 

the district court created uncertainty.” He could have 

“request[ed] that judgment be set out in a separate document 

as required by Rule 58(a).” Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(d). There’s 

no penalty for filing a premature notice of appeal. See Fed. 

R. App. P. 4(a)(2). “[I]f the judge does nothing further in 

the case for 150 days, then it should occur to even the most 

inattentive of appellate counsel that it is time either to seek 

clarification from the judge or to file an appeal.” 16A 

Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice & Procedure

§ 3950.2 (4th ed. 2017).

D.

Pointing to the fact that “the appeals are now 

consolidated,” Plumb asserts that “as a practical matter” he 

is “not in violation of the single appeal rule.” Under the final 

judgment rule, “a party must ordinarily raise all claims of 

error in a single appeal following final judgment on the 

merits.” Flanagan v. United States, 465 U.S. 259, 263 

(1984) (quoting Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord, 449 

U.S. 368, 373 (1981)). That rule is not violated when a party 

appeals the final judgment in the case, which encompasses 

all of the interlocutory orders that preceded it, and separately 

appeals an appealable post-decision order. See Fed. R. App. 

P. 4(a)(4)(B)(ii) (“A party intending to challenge an order 

disposing of any motion listed in Rule 4(a)(4)(A) . . . must 

file a notice of appeal, or an amended notice of 

appeal . . . .”).

But our consolidation of the three appeals in this case for 

administrative convenience makes no difference to the 

timeliness inquiry. Timeliness is evaluated for each appeal 

when the notice of appeal is filed. We may consolidate 

appeals for a decision on the merits only if each of the 
ORR V. PLUMB 17

separate notices of appeal is timely and the appeals are 

subject to our jurisdiction. See Fed. R. App. P. 3(b)(2); 

United States v. Washington, 573 F.2d 1121, 1123 (9th Cir. 

1978). Our consolidation order denied Orr’s motion to 

dismiss this appeal “without prejudice to renewing the 

arguments in the answering brief.” We thus deferred 

consideration of the jurisdictional question.

To the extent we have discretion to treat the arguments 

in this untimely appeal of the jury verdict as part of Plumb’s 

timely appeal of the JMOL order, we decline to do so. A 

notice of appeal must “designate the judgment, order, or part 

thereof being appealed.” Fed. R. App. P. 3(c). Plumb’s 

timely notice of appeal indicated that he was appealing only 

the denial of his JMOL motion.

Although “a mistake in designating the judgment 

appealed from should not result in loss of the appeal as long 

as the intent to appeal from a specific judgment can be fairly 

inferred from the notice and the appellee is not misled by the 

mistake,” El-Shaddai v. Zamora, 833 F.3d 1036, 1041 n.1 

(9th Cir. 2016) (quoting Munoz v. Small Bus. Admin., 644 

F.2d 1361, 1364 (9th Cir. 1981)), that was not the case here. 

In Plumb’s timely appeal, he affirmatively represented in his 

reply brief that he was “not appealing the propriety of the 

jury instructions at this time.” Plumb first challenged the 

jury instructions in this appeal. His other contention in this 

appeal, that he was denied a fair trial due to allegedly biased 

statements by the district court, was not raised below. Orr 

had no notice of the issue while briefing Plumb’s timely 

appeal.

The usual rule is that arguments raised for the first time 

on appeal or omitted from the opening brief are deemed 

forfeited. E.g., Butler v. Curry, 528 F.3d 624, 642 (9th Cir. 
18 ORR V. PLUMB

2008). There is no reason to depart from that rule here, 

which would in effect waive a jurisdictional bar.

III.

Judgment on the special verdict was constructively 

entered 150 days after the special verdict was entered on the 

docket. Because Plumb appealed the judgment on the 

special verdict more than 30 days after its entry, his appeal 

is untimely. Therefore, we lack jurisdiction to reach its 

merits.

DISMISSED.

RAWLINSON, Circuit Judge, dissenting:

I respectfully dissent from my colleagues’ conclusion 

that Plumb’s appeal of the jury’s special verdict was 

untimely. Unfortunately, Plumb’s “untimely” appeal was 

the result of a procedural morass not of Plumb’s making, and 

should not result in the loss of his right to appeal. 

A chronology of the pertinent proceedings provides 

context for my analysis. On July 8, 2015, the district court 

denied Plumb’s motion filed pursuant to Rule 50(b) of the 

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. On July 27, 2015, Plumb 

filed a notice of appeal from the district court’s denial of his 

Rule 50(b) motion. On December 22, 2015, the district court 

entered its order awarding Orr attorneys’ fees and costs. On 

January 4, 2016, Plum filed a notice of appeal of the jury’s 

special verdict. Almost thirty days subsequent to the filing 

of Plumb’s notice of appeal, the district court belatedly 

entered final judgment “in accordance with the [special] jury 

verdict rendered 6/17/2015.”
ORR V. PLUMB 19

Pursuant to Rule 58 of the Federal Rules of Civil 

Procedure:

Every judgment and amended judgment must 

be set out in a separate document, but a 

separate document is not required for an 

order disposing of a motion . . . for judgment 

under Rule 50(b) . . .

Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(a)(1). Consequently, the court was not 

required to separately enter judgment for its order denying 

Plumb’s motion filed pursuant to Rule 50(b). However, the 

same is not true as to the special verdict. Addressing that 

“form of judgment,” Rule 58 provides in pertinent part:

[T]he court must promptly approve the form 

of the judgment, which the clerk must 

promptly enter, when . . . (A) the jury returns 

a special verdict with answers to written 

questions . . .

Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(b)(2) (emphases added).

This provision is in stark contrast to Rule 58(b)(1), which 

provides in relevant part:

[T]he clerk must, without awaiting the 

court’s direction, promptly prepare, sign, and 

enter the judgment when . . . (A) the jury 

returns a general verdict . . .

Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(b)(1) (emphasis added).

Thus, the federal rules direct the clerk to promptly enter 

judgment without any action on the part of the court if a 

general verdict is rendered. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(b)(1). In 
20 ORR V. PLUMB

contrast, if a special verdict is rendered, the clerk may enter 

“the form of judgment” only after approval by the court. 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(b)(2). The heading for Rule 58(b)(2) says 

it all: “Court’s Approval Required.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 

58(b)(2). 

It is undisputed that a special verdict was rendered in this 

case on June 17, 2015. It is also undisputed that the district 

court failed to promptly approve the special verdict form, 

belatedly approving the special verdict form on February 1, 

2016, after Padgett filed two notices of appeal, including one 

challenging the special verdict.1

Although Padgett’s notice of appeal was filed prior to the 

district court’s approval of the special verdict, the majority 

nevertheless concludes that Padgett’s appeal was untimely. 

See Majority Opinion, p. 15. To reach this result, the 

majority maintains that judgment on the jury special verdict 

was “constructively entered.” Majority Opinion, p. 11

(emphasis added). However, the rule governing special 

verdicts makes no allowance for the “constructive” entry of 

judgment. Rather, the rule imposes an affirmative 

requirement on the judge to approve the special verdict 

before it is filed. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(b)(2).

Interestingly, the majority seeks to subtly shift the blame 

to Plumb by suggesting that he could have “requested that 

judgment be set out in a separate document.” Majority 

Opinion, p. 16 (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(d)). There are 

two problems with the majority’s suggestion: 1) compliance 

 

1This interpretation of the facts gives the district court the benefit of 

the doubt. If, as the majority notes, the district court judge was required 

to sign the judgment, Rule 58(b)(2) is yet unsatisfied. See Majority 

Opinion, p. 15.
ORR V. PLUMB 21

with Rule 58(d) does not eliminate the court’s failure to 

comply with Rule 58(b)(2), and 2) it should not be the 

responsibility of a party to remind the court to adhere to the 

rules. 

The majority’s reliance on the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in 

Burnley v. City of San Antonio, 470 F.3d 189 (5th Cir. 2006) 

is misplaced in my view. In its analysis, the Fifth Circuit 

completely ignored the language of Federal Rule of Civil 

Procedure 58(b)(2), which explicitly references a special 

verdict and relied instead on the language of Rule 58(b)(1), 

which addresses only general verdicts. See id. at 195. This 

faulty analysis is singularly unpersuasive and encourages 

noncompliance with the procedural rules. In the twelve 

years since this case was decided, no other circuit has 

adopted this wayward analysis of Rule 58, which completely 

reads Rule 58(b)(2) out of the procedural rules.

Because the district court failed to approve the special 

verdict form before Plumb filed his notice of appeal, the 

appeal was timely.2 We should decide Plumb’s appeal of the 

special verdict on the merits.

 

2 As the majority noted, “[t]here’s no penalty for filing a 

premature notice of appeal.” Majority Opinion, p. 16.