Opinion ID: 2368488
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: General Principles of Appealability

Text: (1) The right to appeal is wholly statutory. ( Powers v. City of Richmond (1995) 10 Cal.4th 85, 108 [40 Cal.Rptr.2d 839, 893 P.2d 1160].) Code of Civil Procedure section 904.1 lists appealable judgments and orders. Chief among them is a judgment that is not interlocutory, e.g., a final judgment. [2] A judgment is the final determination of the rights of the parties (Code Civ. Proc., § 577) `when it terminates the litigation between the parties on the merits of the case and leaves nothing to be done but to enforce by execution what has been determined.' ( Sullivan v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (1997) 15 Cal.4th 288, 304 [63 Cal.Rptr.2d 74, 935 P.2d 781], quoting Doudell v. Shoo (1911) 159 Cal. 448, 453 [114 P. 579].) `It is not the form of the decree but the substance and effect of the adjudication which is determinative. As a general test, which must be adapted to the particular circumstances of the individual case, it may be said that where no issue is left for future consideration except the fact of compliance or noncompliance with the terms of the first decree, that decree is final, but where anything further in the nature of judicial action on the part of the court is essential to a final determination of the rights of the parties, the decree is interlocutory.' ( Griset v. Fair Political Practices Com. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 688, 698 [107 Cal.Rptr.2d 149, 23 P.3d 43], italics added, quoting Lyon v. Goss (1942) 19 Cal.2d 659, 670 [123 P.2d 11].) As we explained in Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara (1994) 7 Cal.4th 725 [29 Cal.Rptr.2d 804, 872 P.2d 143], the purpose of the final judgment rule is to prevent `piecemeal disposition and multiple appeals' which `tend to be oppressive and costly. [Citation.] Interlocutory appeals burden the courts and impede the judicial process in a number of ways: (1) They tend to clog the appellate courts with a multiplicity of appeals. . . . (2) Early resort to the appellate courts tends to produce uncertainty and delay in the trial court. . . . (3) Until a final judgment is rendered the trial court may completely obviate an appeal by altering the rulings from which an appeal would otherwise have been taken. [Citations.] (4) Later actions by the trial court may provide a more complete record which dispels the appearance of error or establishes that it was harmless. (5) Having the benefit of a complete adjudication . . . will assist the reviewing court to remedy error (if any) by giving specific directions rather than remanding for another round of open-ended proceedings.' [Citation.] ( Id. at p. 741, fn. 9.) We address the appealability of subpoenas under section 37104 with these principles in mind.