Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/582/15-457/
Timestamp: 2017-10-17 18:53:12
Document Index: 639037971

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1291', '§1291', '§1292', '§1291', '§1291', '§2072', '§1291']

Microsoft Corp. v. Baker :: 582 US ___ (2017) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 582 › Microsoft Corp. v. Baker › Syllabus
The owners of Microsoft’s videogame console, Xbox 360, filed a putative class action alleging a design defect. The district court struck class allegations from the complaint. The Ninth Circuit denied permission to appeal that order under FRCP 23(f), which authorizes permissive interlocutory appeal of class certification orders. Instead of pursuing their individual claims, plaintiffs stipulated to a voluntary dismissal, then appealed, challenging only the interlocutory order striking their class allegations. The Ninth Circuit held it had jurisdiction to entertain the appeal under 28 U.S.C. 1291, applicable to “final decisions of the district courts,” and that the rationale for striking the class allegations was impermissible. The Supreme Court reversed. Federal courts of appeals lack jurisdiction under section 1291 to review an order denying class certification (or an order striking class allegations) after the named plaintiffs have voluntarily dismissed their claims with prejudice. Section 1291’s final-judgment rule preserves the proper balance between trial and appellate courts, minimizes the harassment and delay that would result from repeated interlocutory appeals, and promotes the efficient administration of justice. Under plaintiffs’ theory, plaintiffs alone could determine whether and when to appeal an adverse certification ruling, allowing indiscriminate appellate review of interlocutory orders. Plaintiffs in putative class actions cannot transform interlocutory orders into section 1291 final judgments simply by dismissing their claims with prejudice. Finality “is not a technical concept of temporal or physical termination.”
Baker v. Microsoft Corp., No. 12-35946 (9th Cir. Jul. 20, 2015)
Orders granting or denying class certification are inherently interlocutory, hence not immediately reviewable under 28 U. S. C. §1291, which empowers federal courts of appeals to review only “final decisions of the district courts.” In Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U. S. 463 , a 1978 decision, this Court held that the death-knell doctrine—which rested on courts’ recognition that a denial of class certification would sometimes end a lawsuit for all practical purposes—did not warrant mandatory appellate jurisdiction of certification orders. Id., at 470, 477. Although the death-knell theory likely “enhanced the quality of justice afforded a few litigants,” it did so at a heavy cost to §1291’s finality requirement. Id., at 473. First, the potential for multiple interlocutory appeals inhered in the doctrine. See id., at 474. Second, the death-knell theory forced appellate courts indiscriminately into the trial process, circumventing the two-tiered “screening procedure” Congress established for interlocutory appeals in 28 U. S. C. §1292(b). Id., at 474, 476. Finally, the doctrine “operat[ed] only in favor of plaintiffs,” even though the class-certification question may be critically important to defendants as well. Id., at 476.
(a) Section 1291’s final-judgment rule preserves the proper balance between trial and appellate courts, minimizes the harassment and delay that would result from repeated interlocutory appeals, and promotes the efficient administration of justice. This Court has resisted efforts to stretch §1291 to permit appeals of right that would erode the finality principle and disserve its objectives. See, e.g., Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Carpenter, 558 U. S. 100 . Attempts to secure appeal as of right from adverse class certification orders fit that bill. Pp. 11–12.
(c) Also like the death-knell doctrine, respondents’ theory allows indiscriminate appellate review of interlocutory orders. Beyond disturbing the “ ‘appropriate relationship between the respective courts,’ ” Coopers & Lybrand, 437 U. S., at 476, respondents’ dismissal tactic undercuts Rule 23(f)’s discretionary regime. This consideration is “[o]f prime significance to the jurisdictional issue” in this case, Swint v. Chambers County Comm’n, 514 U. S. 35 , because Congress has established rulemaking as the means for determining when a decision is final for purposes of §1291 and for providing for appellate review of interlocutory orders not covered by statute, see §§2072(c) and 1292(e).
Respondents maintain that Rule 23(f) is irrelevant, for it concerns interlocutory orders, whereas this case involves an actual final judgment. Yet permitting respondents’ voluntary-dismissal tactic to yield an appeal of right would seriously undermine Rule 23(f)’s careful calibration, as well as Congress’ designation of rulemaking “as the preferred means for determining whether and when prejudgment orders should be immediately appealable,” Mohawk Industries, 558 U. S., at 113. Plaintiffs in putative class actions cannot transform a tentative interlocutory order into a final judgment within the meaning of §1291 simply by dismissing their claims with prejudice. Finality “is not a technical concept of temporal or physical termination.” Cobbledick v. United States, 309 U. S. 323 . It is one “means [geared to] achieving a healthy legal system,” ibid., and its contours are determined accordingly. Pp. 14–16.
Once the named plaintiffs in a putative class action have voluntarily dismissed their claims with prejudice, federal courts of appeals do not have jurisdiction to review a denial of class certification or an order striking class allegations.
Once the named plaintiffs in a putative class action have voluntarily dismissed their claims with pr...