Opinion ID: 1843338
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: We first consider our jurisdiction to hear this appeal. Ordinarily, we have no jurisdiction over a case where no final judgment has been entered, unless permission has been obtained to appeal from an interlocutory order. Johnson v. Iowa State Highway Comm'n, 257 Iowa 810, 812, 134 N.W.2d 916, 917 (1965). In the case before us on appeal, the district court never entered a final order dismissing the claims of the plaintiffs to this appeal. Instead, the case was concluded in district court through a variety of voluntary dismissals filed by the plaintiffs as a result of various settlements between the parties. Yet, dismissals filed by the parties are not considered to be final orders for the purposes of appeal. Ahls v. Sherwood/Div. of Harsco Corp., 473 N.W.2d 619, 622 (Iowa 1991). Consequently, Keota claims we have no jurisdiction. We have previously adopted the doctrine of pragmatic finality to govern appeals where the record reveals the claims before the district court were fully concluded without a final order or judgment entered. Id. at 622-23. We think this doctrine applies to render the plaintiffs' appeal timely in this case. The appeal in this case is from an order that did not dispose of the entire case. When this summary judgment order was entered, the plaintiffs had the right to request an interlocutory appeal or wait to appeal once the entire case was completed. Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 6.5(3) provides: Notwithstanding these rules, an order disposing of an action as to fewer than all parties to the suit, even if their interests are severable, or finally disposing of fewer than all the issues in the suit, even if the issues are severable, may be appealed within the time for an appeal from the order, judgment, or decree finally disposing of the action as to remaining parties or issues. In lieu of seeking interlocutory review, the plaintiffs in this case chose to wait until the conclusion of the case. Yet, the existence of a final judgment in this case became clouded because the claims of the parties were either settled or rendered moot in piecemeal fashion. Ultimately, the trial scheduled by the district court was not needed, and the various dismissals filed by the parties made it unnecessary for the court to bring the case to a conclusion by entering a final judgment. Clearly, these circumstances are the types that fall within the pragmatic finality doctrine. The vast number of parties and claims, however, made it difficult to pinpoint a pragmatic final judgment under the doctrine, which Keota seizes upon in an effort to reject its application. Notwithstanding the complexity of the settlement process, the important inquiry under Ahls is for the record to provide sufficient assurance that the case was fully concluded and that there were no remaining issues to be tried by the district court. See Ahls, 473 N.W.2d at 622-23. In this case, the key event in this inquiry is the date the last remaining claim against a party was dismissed. Applying the Ahls standards, we are satisfied that the pragmatic finality for appeal purposes occurred when Maytag was dismissed. Id. The notice of appeal was filed within thirty days from this event. The order granting summary judgment was timely appealed and we deny the motion to dismiss.