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Page Number: 7.0

4 

BULLARD v. BLUE HILLS BANK 

Opinion of the Court 

the BAP cannot be final unless the underlying bankruptcy 
court  order  is  final.”    Id.,  at  485.  The  Court  of  Appeals
accordingly examined whether a bankruptcy court’s denial
of  plan  confirmation  is  a  final  order,  a  question  that  it
recognized had divided the Circuits.  Adopting the major­
ity view, the First Circuit concluded that an order denying
confirmation is not final so long as the debtor remains free 
to propose another plan.  Id., at 486–490. 

We granted certiorari.  574 U. S. ___ (2014). 

II 

In  ordinary  civil  litigation,  a  case  in  federal  district 
court culminates in a “final decisio[n],” 28 U. S. C. §1291,
a ruling “by which a district court disassociates itself from 
a case,” Swint v. Chambers County Comm’n, 514 U. S. 35, 
42  (1995).    A  party  can  typically  appeal  as  of  right  only 
from that final decision.  This rule reflects the conclusion 
. . . 
that  “[p]ermitting  piecemeal,  prejudgment  appeals 
undermines  ‘efficient  judicial  administration’  and  en­
croaches  upon  the  prerogatives  of  district  court  judges,
who  play  a  ‘special  role’  in  managing  ongoing  litigation.” 
Mohawk  Industries,  Inc.  v.  Carpenter,  558  U. S.  100,  106 
(2009)  (quoting  Firestone  Tire  &  Rubber  Co.  v.  Risjord, 
449 U. S. 368, 374 (1981)).

The  rules  are  different  in  bankruptcy.  A  bankruptcy
case involves “an aggregation of individual controversies,” 
many of which would exist as stand-alone lawsuits but for 
the bankrupt status of the debtor.  1 Collier on Bankruptcy 
¶5.08[1][b],  p. 5–42  (16th  ed.  2014).    Accordingly,  “Con­
gress  has  long  provided  that  orders  in  bankruptcy  cases
may  be  immediately  appealed  if  they  finally  dispose  of
discrete disputes within the larger case.”  Howard Delivery 
Service,  Inc.  v.  Zurich  American  Ins.  Co.,  547  U. S.  651, 
657,  n.  3  (2006)  (internal  quotation  marks  and  emphasis 
omitted).  The current bankruptcy appeals statute reflects
this  approach:  It  authorizes  appeals  as  of  right  not  only