Opinion ID: 1919060
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Direct vs. Interlocutory Appeal.

Text: At the outset, there is a question of whether this case presents a direct appeal or is interlocutory in nature. A direct appeal is heard as a matter of right, while this court has broad discretion to consider whether to hear an interlocutory appeal. Iowa R.App. P. 6.1( c ). The central issue is whether an appeal of a district court order which dismisses all claims against one party in a negligence action involving multiple defendants is direct or interlocutory. In Buechel v. Five Star Quality Care, Inc., 745 N.W.2d 732 (Iowa 2008), we considered this question. In Buechel, we noted that under our comparative fault statute, fault sharing cannot occur with a defendant who is no longer a party to the litigation through grant of summary judgment. Id. at 735; Spaur v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 510 N.W.2d 854, 863 (Iowa 1994). As a result, the issues in the motion for summary judgment had impact on the issues of liability against the remaining defendants, are not severable, and are therefore interlocutory in nature. Buechel, 745 N.W.2d at 735. Nonetheless, as in Buechel, we exercise our discretion to treat the notice of appeal here as an application for interlocutory appeal, grant the application, and consider the underlying merits. Id. at 736.