Opinion ID: 290727
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the appealability of the order

Text: 5 Before considering the merits of appellant's case, we are faced with a jurisdictional question. We must decide whether this order, disposing of only a part of the case, is appealable in the context of this multiple-party, multiple-claim litigation. There is no question that the order is final in the sense that it completely determines the priority of the United States' rights as against Trefina, but Rule 54(b), Fed.R.Civ.P., adds another dimension to the determination of finality in cases in which multiple claims are presented. It states that any order 'which adjudicates fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties shall not terminate the action as to any of the claims or parties   .' Ordinarily, therefore, an order of the type appealed from in this case would not be final absent an express direction of the trial court entering judgment and finding that there is no just cause for delay, in accordance with Rule 54(b). 6 It has long been recognized, however, that there is a narrow class of orders, known as 'collateral orders,' that may be considered final for purposes of appeal even though they issue in the context of incomplete multiple-claim or multiple-party suits. The Supreme Court has defined collateral orders as 'that small class which finally determine claims of right separable from, and collateral to, rights asserted in the action, too important to be denied review and too independent of the cause itself to require that appellate consideration be deferred until the whole case is adjudicated.    We hold this order appealable because it is a final disposition of a claimed right which is not an ingredient of the cause of action and does not require consideration with it.' Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 1949, 337 U.S. 541, 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 1225, 93 L.Ed. 1528; see C. Wright, Federal Courts, 398-99 (1963). See also Local No. 438, Const. & Gen. Laborers' Union v. Curry, 1963, 371 U.S. 542, 83 S.Ct. 531, 9 L.Ed.2d 514; Radio Station WOW v. Johnson, 1945, 326 U.S. 120, 65 S.Ct. 1475, 89 L.Ed. 2092. These authorities indicate that (1) the substance of collateral orders must be independent and easily separable from the substance of other claims, (2) at least part of the question of collateralness is determined by the need to secure prompt review in order to protect important interests of any party, and (3) the finality issue is to be examined in light of practical, rather than narrowly technical, considerations. 7 The default judgment here was issued as a sanction for appellant's failure to produce its officer for deposition, an issue that depends entirely on the circumstances surrounding that failure as considered in light of a procedural rule, Fed.R.Civ.P. Rule 37(d). The record discloses little about the underlying claims for commissions, and we do not need to know about the merits of those claims. The intervention issue is somewhat more closely intertwined with the merits of the other substantive issues, but only as regards the practical relationship of the Government's interest in the case to interests of other parties, and we think that this question can be determined without reference to the merits of the other issues. Thus the order appealed from is collateral in the sense that it is completely separable and independent from all other claims of all other parties. As a practical matter, furthermore, there is a need to secure prompt review to protect the legitimate interests of the appealing party, since Trefina's commission would be subject to the claims of the United States unless the default judgment were vacated on appeal. Trefina cannot make important decisions about its further participation in this suit without having its rights determined now. For these reasons, we hold that the default judgment is an appealable collateral order and that Trefina may also attack the intervention, which was prior to and necessary for the default judgment, on this appeal.