Opinion ID: 782088
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 12 We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 over those district court orders that are final. The District Court here dismissed Kesten's claim and entered a forfeiture judgment in favor of the government that would ordinarily be considered final. See, e.g., United States v. Ten Thousand Seven Hundred Dollars & No Cents, 258 F.3d 215, 221 (3d Cir.2001) (finding decree of forfeiture to be final, appealable order); United States v. Contents of Accounts Nos. 3034504504 & 14407143 (In re Friko Corp.), 971 F.2d 974, 978 n. 3 (3d Cir.1992) (finding order striking claim to be final, appealable order). But this is no ordinary forfeiture case. The forfeiture action from which Kesten appeals was consolidated for all purposes with the civil action that Kesten initiated against MTB Bank, which is still pending. Normally, under Rule 54(b), any order that disposes of fewer than all of the claims or the rights and liability of fewer than all the parties is not a final, appealable order unless certified as such by the district court. Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b). 13 Kesten argues that we may exercise jurisdiction because the orders appealed from should be considered final notwithstanding the pendency of the bank action. 4 Interestingly, MTB has notified the Court that it is not a party to the case on appeal and is not directly impacted by the question of our jurisdiction over the issues presented in the forfeiture case. The government, although it recognizes that there is an issue as to our jurisdiction, also urges the Court to address the forfeiture issues before the MTB action proceeds. 14 The consolidation of two cases does not automatically preclude the appealability of an order in one. We have consistently rejected a bright-line rule, preferring a case-by-case approach that examines the overlap among the claims, the relationship of the various parties, and the likelihood of the claims' being tried together. See Hall v. Wilkerson, 926 F.2d 311, 314 (3d Cir.1991); Bergman v. Atlantic City, 860 F.2d 560, 567 (3d Cir.1988). Applying this fact-specific approach to the case at hand, we conclude that the orders in the forfeiture case are final for purposes of appeal. 15 A close examination of our previous precedents in which we have spoken on this issue guides our reasoning and supports this result. In Bergman, our first case to address this issue, we held that an order disposing of one suit that had been consolidated for all purposes of discovery and trial with a second suit was not a final, appealable order where the second suit was still pending. Id. at 567. There, a homeowner, suing in his individual capacity and seeking to represent a class of homeowners, sued various municipal and housing authorities for amending a development plan without the consent of the homeowners. The Homeowners Association that represented the relevant homeowners filed a second suit with the same central claims. The two suits were then consolidated for all purposes of discovery and trial. Id. at 562-63. Following consolidation, the district court granted summary judgment for the defendants against the individual homeowner. The individual homeowner appealed. Id. at 563. 16 We dismissed the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction. In coming to our conclusion that the summary judgment order in the individual homeowner's case was not a final order, we discussed our reasoning in Bogosian v. Gulf Oil Corp., 561 F.2d 434 (3d Cir.1977), in which a similar issue of finality had been presented, but in the context of the certification of a summary judgment order in one of two consolidated cases. Bergman, 860 F.2d at 564. There, two actions had been consolidated, but not for all purposes. We held that the two cases were not a single unit and that an order in one case could be certified under Rule 54(b). Bogosian, 561 F.2d at 441. We looked behind the consolidation label and examined the actual relationship of one case to the other. First, we noted factors mitigating against the cases' separateness: That both plaintiffs are represented by the same attorney, the suits are filed in the same forum, are before the same judge, and the complaints and the defendants are identical. Id. However, we then noted that the cases have not been consolidated for trial, and that it was possible that the cases could be scheduled for trial at different times and be tried before different juries. Id. We then held that at least absent consolidation for all purposes of cases separately filed, each civil action is to be viewed as a separate unit. Id. 17 In Bergman we relied on our reasoning in Bogosian and endorsed consideration of the factors we had outlined there for determining whether an order in a consolidated case was final for purposes of appeal. Bergman, 860 F.2d at 567. Rejecting a bright-line rule, we noted the relevant factors as including whether the cases were in the same forum before the same judge, whether the claims and parties were identical, and whether the cases were consolidated for trial or just for pre-trial administration. Id. We then reasoned that, because the two cases were consolidated for all purposes of discovery and trial, and the adjudication of the issues as to the individual plaintiff would necessarily affect the rights of the Homeowners Association, the order disposing of the individual's claim was not final. Id. 18 In our next case in which we addressed finality concerns in consolidated actions, we applied the Bogosian factors and found that an order disposing of one case was a final order for purposes of appeal. See Hall, 926 F.2d at 314. In Hall, we were faced with three consolidated cases: two were declaratory judgment actions requesting a determination as to whether a driver who had been in an accident was an insured under an insurance policy, and the third was a tort action against the driver. Id. at 312-13. After a hearing, the court entered a judgment that the driver was not an insured. The driver appealed, even though the district court refused to certify the judgment as final. The tort action was scheduled for trial several months later. Id. at 313. 19 We held that the driver could appeal the order in the declaratory actions. Id. at 314. We noted that our rulings in Bergman and Bogosian had turned on whether the cases had been consolidated for trial. Id. We also emphasized that in Bergman the complaints in the two actions were substantially similar. Id. We then applied the Bogosian factors and determined that because the claims were not the same, the parties were not identical, and it was unlikely that the actions would be tried together because trial of the insurance coverage issue before the same jury would have impermissibly introduced the issue of insurance into the tort action, the order in the declaratory action was final. Id. 20 Our case law thus instructs us to apply the Bogosian factors to determine whether the MTB action and the forfeiture action here are truly a single unit. When we do so, we find that, as in Hall, the orders on appeal before us from the forfeiture action are final and appealable. 21 Although we are faced with two cases that were ordered consolidated for all purposes, a label that seems to make this case more akin to Bergman, the consolidation order here was entered by the Magistrate Judge sua sponte, without briefing or argument, causing some uncertainty as to what the Court actually intended to accomplish. When we look beyond the label, we find that the two actions are not consolidated in a way that would preclude our jurisdiction, and that our disposition of Kesten's appeal in the forfeiture action would probably advance, rather than hinder, the MTB action. 22 First and foremost, the issues on appeal in the forfeiture action are completely distinct from the underlying issues in the MTB action. The forfeiture action will turn on the government's right to seizure of the funds under a specific statutory framework. By contrast, the MTB action challenges the propriety of the bank's conduct vis a vis its depositor and the government. And, although both cases may touch upon the legality of the seizure warrant, the forfeiture action comes to us on procedural points peculiar to forfeiture proceedings that have nothing whatsoever to do with the seizure of the funds or the merits of Kesten's claim to the funds, let alone the merits of Kesten's action against MTB Bank. The crucial issue we must consider is whether the rules applicable in forfeiture cases permitted Kesten to move to dismiss the forfeiture complaint. Furthermore, the central issue in the forfeiture action as it moves forward will be whether the funds were the proceeds of illegal activity. In contrast, the central issue in the MTB action is whether MTB should have turned over Kesten's money at the oral request of the DEA. Though there may later be a slight similarity of subject matter regarding the seizure, this is not enough to preclude our jurisdiction over the present question. In fact, it could be argued that a final order in the forfeiture action before the MTB action proceeds further is advisable, as Kesten might view the MTB action differently if the forfeiture were to be overturned and the funds returned. 23 Second, the parties in both actions are not identical, nor do they have identical interests. Although the government and MTB argue that the government is a necessary party to the MTB action, the government has never been joined, nor has Kesten shown any inclination to name the government as a defendant. The sole question in the MTB action is whether the Bank properly turned over the money, not whether the money was properly seized by the government. 24 Finally, the two actions are governed by somewhat different procedural rules and have been treated separately from the start. We find it highly unlikely that they would or could ever be tried together. The two are simply not intertwined. Unlike in Bergman, the resolution of the forfeiture issues will not in any way hamper the rights of MTB in the MTB action. If anything, as we have noted, finality would enhance the situation. And, in fact, when the Magistrate Judge entered the consolidation order, he also stayed the MTB action pending the outcome of motions then before the Court in the forfeiture action. Those motions are the same motions that eventually gave rise to this appeal. As MTB has recognized, it has never had any interest in the issues before us. We therefore see no reason not to address these issues. 25 In short, we find that this case is more like the distinct declaratory and tort actions in Hall and the separable suits in Bogosian than the nearly indistinguishable homeowners' suits in Bergman. Because an examination of the Bogosian factors weighs heavily in favor of finality, we hold that the orders in the forfeiture case are final orders for the purposes of section 1291. We will therefore exercise our jurisdiction to decide the issues on appeal.