Opinion ID: 795895
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jurisdiction over Defendants' Appeal

Text: 17 The denial of a motion for summary judgment is normally not immediately appealable because such a decision is not a final judgment. O'Bert ex rel. Estate of O'Bert v. Vargo, 331 F.3d 29, 38 (2d Cir.2003) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1291). Under the collateral order doctrine, however, the denial of a qualified-immunity-based motion for summary judgment is immediately appealable to the extent that the district court has denied the motion as a matter of law, although not to the extent that the defense turns solely on the resolution of questions of fact. Id. (citing Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, 313, 116 S.Ct. 834, 133 L.Ed.2d 773 (1996)). Indeed, where, as here, defendants have accepted the plaintiffs' version of the facts for purposes of the appeal, they may challenge the district court's rejection of a qualified-immunity-based motion for summary judgment by arguing that the facts asserted by the plaintiffs entitle [them] to the defense of qualified immunity as a matter of law. Salim v. Proulx, 93 F.3d 86, 91 (2d Cir.1996). We accordingly have appellate jurisdiction over the limited question of law presented by defendants' appeal.