Opinion ID: 5221
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: Each court must be satisfied that it has jurisdiction of each case it considers. Even if the parties fail to raise the question of subject matter or appellate jurisdiction, the court must do so sua sponte, if necessary. In re Moody, 849 F.2d 902 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 967, 109 S.Ct. 493, 102 L.Ed.2d 530 (1988). The bankruptcy judge's order disallowing exemption of the proceeds clearly did not dispose of England's entire bankruptcy case. We must therefore determine whether this Court has appellate jurisdiction over that order. Jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases arises from 28 U.S.C. § 158(d), which grants courts of appeals appellate jurisdiction over all final decisions, judgments, orders, and decrees of bankruptcy judges. District courts also have appellate jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases; however, their jurisdiction includes interlocutory orders and decrees on which the court has granted leave to appeal. 28 U.S.C. § 158(a). Although the district court did not grant England leave to appeal this case, that court did not discuss the finality of the bankruptcy court's order. The Supreme Court has defined final judgment, as used in 28 U.S.C. § 1291, as a decision which ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment. Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. v. Risjord, 449 U.S. 368, 373–74, 101 S.Ct. 669, 672–73, 66 L.Ed.2d 571 (1981) (quoting Coopers and Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 467, 98 S.Ct. 2454, 2456, 57 L.Ed.2d 351 (1978)). The Supreme Court has not defined final judgment with respect to section 158. However, a determination that appellate jurisdiction arises only when the bankruptcy judge enters an order which ends the entire bankruptcy case, leaving nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment, would substantially frustrate the bankruptcy system. This is so particularly when, as here, one independent decision materially affects the rest of the bankruptcy proceedings. Separate and discrete orders in many bankruptcy proceedings determine the extent of the bankruptcy estate and influence creditors to expend or not to expend effort to recover monies due them. The reversal of such an order would waste exorbitant amounts of time, money, and labor and would likely require parties to start the entire bankruptcy process anew. This potential waste of judicial and other reso urces has influenced this Court and other courts of appeals to view finality in bankruptcy proceedings in a more practical and less technical light. See In re Moody, 849 F.2d 902, 904 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 967, 109 S.Ct. 493, 102 L.Ed.2d 530 (1988); In re Brayshaw, 912 F.2d 1255, 1256 (10th Cir.1990); In re Apex Oil Co., 884 F.2d 343, 347 (8th Cir.1989); In re Cottrell, 876 F.2d 540, 541 (6th Cir.1989); F/S Airlease II, Inc. v. Simon, 844 F.2d 99, 103–04 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 852, 109 S.Ct. 137, 102 L.Ed.2d 110 (1988); In re Charter Co., 778 F.2d 617, 621 (11th Cir.1985); Sumy v. Schlossberg, 777 F.2d 921, 923 (4th Cir.1985). But see In re Wisz, 778 F.2d 762, 763–64 (11th Cir.1985). The Court has determined that an order which ends a discrete judicial unit in the larger case concludes a bankruptcy proceeding and is a final judgment for the purposes of section 158(d). In re Moody, 849 F.2d 902, 904 (5th Cir.1988); In re Moody, 817 F.2d 365, 368 (5th Cir.1987). Finality in bankruptcy cases is contingent upon the conclusion of an adversarial proceeding within the bankruptcy case, rather than the conclusion of the entire litigation. In re Louisiana World Exposition, Inc., 832 F.2d 1391 (5th Cir.1987). Other courts have explicitly held that the grant or denial of an exemption in a bankruptcy proceeding is a final order under section 158(d). In re Brayshaw, 912 F.2d 1255, 1256 (10th Cir.1990); Sumy, 777 F.2d at 923; In re Jones, 768 F.2d 923, 925–26 n. 3 (7th Cir.1985); In re White, 727 F.2d 884, 886 (9th Cir.1984); John T. Mather Memorial Hospital, Inc. v. Pearl, 723 F.2d 193, 194 n. 1 (2d Cir.1983).6 Although this Court has reviewed a district court's determination that certain property was exempt in a bankruptcy proceeding, it has not expressly held that such an order is final. There was an implicit finding that the bankruptcy court's order was final. In re Dyke, 943 F.2d 1435 (5th Cir.1991). That which In re Dyke implied, the Court now holds: An order which 6 Although In re White and Mather Memorial Hospital were decided prior to the enactment of § 158, we find the analysis in those cases persuasive. grants or denies an exemption will be deemed a final order for the purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 158(d).