Opinion ID: 520665
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appealability of the Order of March 16, 1988.

Text: 10 We have jurisdiction to review an order granting, continuing, modifying, refusing or dissolving injunctions, or refusing to dissolve or modify injunctions under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1292(a)(1). Appellee Quan contends that the district court's order of March 16, 1988, qualifies neither as an injunction, nor as an order modifying an injunction. He therefore concludes that the order is unappealable for lack of finality. We disagree. 11 An injunction may be defined as an order that is directed to a party, enforceable by contempt, and designed to accord or protect some or all of the substantive relief sought by a complaint in more than temporary 1 fashion. 16 C. Wright, A. Miller, E. Cooper, & E. Gressman, Federal Practice & Procedure: Jurisdiction Sec. 3922 at 29 (1977). It is to be contrasted with an order by a court that regulates the conduct of the litigation, which is not considered an injunction for purposes of appellate jurisdiction, even though punishable by contempt. Orders relating to discovery are examples of the latter. See id. at 30 (and cases cited within). 12 The original order of November 23, 1987, directed First State to pay defense expenses in the FSLIC litigation as they were incurred. The order met the general definition of an injunction in that it was directed to First State, was enforceable by contempt, and provided most of the substantive relief the insureds sought. It did not concern only the conduct of the litigation, as Quan contends. The order of December 15, 1987, clearly modified the original order by directing that expenses be apportioned so that First State need only pay covered expenses as they were incurred. Finally, the order of March 16, 1988, from which this appeal was taken, again modified the original injunction by providing that First State pay all defense expenses, subject to later reimbursement after a post-trial apportionment. Having concluded that the original order was an injunction, we have no difficulty characterizing the March 16th order as a modification of that injunction. The March 16th order substantially changed the terms and force of the injunction as it stood immediately prior to March 16; the change was a modification, not a mere clarification. See Movie Systems, Inc. v. MAD Minneapolis Audio Distributors, 717 F.2d 427, 429-30 (8th Cir.1983). It is therefore appealable under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1292(a)(1). 13