Court Opinion

ID: 9448139
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 23:24:07.622785+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:31:18.357438
License: Public Domain

CAMERON, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
If I felt that this Court had jurisdiction of this appeal, I would be constrained to concur in the result reached in the able and lucid opinion of the majority. But I do not think that the judgment before us is one from which appeal should lie. It is important to keep in mind that final judgments are appealable only if made so by statute. Basically, judgments of district courts are appealable to this Court only if they dispose of all of the issues as they relate to all of the parties.
The judgment here before us disposes of only one issue as to which the plaintiff, who brought the action and ought to have major control over the route it takes, is, so far, an uninterested bystander. Unless the third party practice vests those who participate in it with a stature superior to that of the party whose action this is, — and I do not understand that the majority opinion so infers — I think prior decisions of this Court have decided the issue before us in a way with which this decision is at war.
Meadows et al. v. Greyhound Corporation, 5 Cir., 1956, 235 F.2d 233, furnishes, in my opinion, a good illustration, although the majority does not consider it contrary to its present holding. Meadows et al. claimed that Greyhound and the driver of the car, which collided with the bus on which they were passengers, were liable to them for personal injuries negligently inflicted upon them. The trial court granted Greyhound’s motion for summary judgment, leaving the action pending as between Meadows et al. and the driver of the other car. There was no doubt that the judgment was final as between Greyhound and appellants, or that it afforded adequate basis for a plea of res judicata on Greyhound’s part. The trial court certified that there was no just reason for delay, and directed the entry of a judgment as between Meadows et al. and Greyhound. Nevertheless we held that the judgment in favor of Greyhound was not appealable and dismissed the appeal. I think the principles upon which that case was based are controlling here and require that we dismiss this appeal. And compare King v. California Co. et al., 1955, 224 F.2d 193, and King v. California Co. et al., 1956, 236 F.2d 413, where the reasons underlying this course of action are discussed.
I think that the appellate courts have too much important work to do to warrant displacing it by consideration of piecemeal appeals such as I consider this one to be, upon which the majority has manifestly done a large amount of work. I therefore respectfully dissent.