Court Opinion

ID: 9470951
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:21:40.965742+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:42:12.418866
License: Public Domain

TIMBERS, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
The surest way to undermine the long standing final judgment rule — the cornerstone of federal appellate jurisdiction — is to sanction the corrosive erosion of particular exceptions. Here the majority, in its rush to reach the merits, has strained to create an exception which is not necessary and, in my view, is contrary to controlling law. I therefore respectfully dissent.
As the majority recognizes, there are three discrete requirements before the collateral order rule of Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546-47 (1949), may be invoked: (1) the order must conclusively determine the disputed question; (2) the order must resolve an important issue completely separate from the merits of the action; and (3) the order must be effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment. Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 468 (1978). See Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord, 449 U.S. 368, 375 (1981). Assuming arguendo that the first two requirements have been satisfied here, I am convinced that the third requirement has not been satisfied.
The Supreme Court through a number of decisions has clarified the circumstances under which appellate review of a collateral order is appropriate to ensure that a right will not “have been lost, probably irreparably”. Cohen, supra, 337 U.S. at 546. For example, in United States v. Ryan, 402 U.S. 530 (1971), the Court held that a production order was not appealable where the respondent would have experienced a “substantial burden” in complying with a subpoena duces tecum. Id. at 532. Noting that the respondent had the option of resisting the production order (and thus exposing himself to contempt), the Court emphasized that the test of whether a collateral order is appealable is not measured in terms of the difficulties it imposes on a party; rather, the inquiry must focus on whether “denial of immediate review would render impossible any review whatsoever of an individual’s claims.... ” Id. at 533 (emphasis added). In United States v. MacDonald, 435 U.S. 850 (1978), the Court characterized the third requirement of Cohen as involving “an asserted right the legal and practical value of which would be destroyed if it were not vindicated before trial.” Id. at 860 (footnote omitted). More recently, in Firestone the Court held that the “effectively unreviewable” requirement was not satisfied where the petitioner claimed that an order denying disqualification would be effectively unreviewable on final appeal because of “the possibility that the course of the proceedings may be indelibly stamped or shaped with the fruits of a breach of confidence or by acts or omissions prompted by a divided loyalty....” Firestone, supra, 449 U.S. at 376. Observing that the petitioner had “fail[edj to supply a single concrete example of the indelible stamp or taint of which it warns,” id., the Court concluded that “[o]ur cases ... require much more before a ruling may be considered ‘effectively unreviewable’ absent immediate appeal.” Id.
*893In light of the Supreme Court’s unmistakable message to the lower federal courts as to the meaning of the “effectively unreviewable” requirement, I think it is mandatory for us to determine whether appellant in the instant case has presented compelling evidence that postponing review of the § 1927 fee award until the entry of final judgment in the underlying employment discrimination action will either “render impossible any review whatsoever”, Ryan, supra, 402 U.S. at 533, or destroy the “legal and practical value” of appellant’s right to challenge the district court’s order on appeal. MacDonald, supra, 435 U.S. at 860.
Appellant presents three arguments in support of his claim that the order will be effectively unreviewable unless interlocutory review is allowed. First, he suggests that appellee might contend at the close of the underlying action that “the appeal was taken too late.” Second, he suggests that the award will not be appealable if appellant prevails at trial. Third, he suggests that the award will not be appealable if the parties settle.
Appellant’s first argument may be disposed of quickly. Appellee has expressly stated that it would not object to an appeal from the order allowing attorneys’ fees after final judgment has been entered. Such statement forecloses appellee from contending to the contrary.
Appellant’s second suggested scenario— the situation that would be presented if appellant should prevail on the merits in the underlying action — gives rise to a more substantial argument. Although appellant has done no more than rhetorically inquire whether he will be able to appeal from the fee order in the event that he prevails on the merits, in fairness the implications of this “possibility” should be explored.
Even if appellant prevails in the underlying action, it is clear that an appeal from the order granting the § 1927 award will not be barred under the general rule that “the successful party below has no standing to appeal from the [district court’s] decree . ... ” Public Service Commission v. Brashear Lines, 306 U.S. 204, 206 (1939); 9 Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 203.06, at 3-23 (2 ed. 1983). This is so for several reasons. First, the fact that a fee award is independent of the merits of the case, White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, 455 U.S. 445, 451 n. 13 (1982), indicates that, even if appellant prevails on the merits, he still may lose on a motion for attorneys’ fees.1 This would provide him with the opportunity to bring up for review the interim § 1927 fee award simultaneously with the appeal from the final order denying his fee application. Furthermore, Congress did not intend to place an attorney against whom sanctions have been imposed under § 1927 in jeopardy of forfeiting his right to appeal from an adverse § 1927 fee award. While § 1927 does not “distinguish between winners and losers, or between plaintiffs and defendants,” Roadway Express, Inc. v. Piper, 447 U.S. 752, 762 (1980),2 in its focus on deterring dilatory tactics, permitting an attorney to appeal from an adverse § 1927 order even though his client has prevailed in the underlying action is consistent with the intent of Congress that the sanctioned attorney be afforded “all appropriate protection *894of the due process available under the law”. H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 1234, supra note 2, at 2783.3
Moreover, if an attorney were required to take an interlocutory appeal in order to preserve his right to appeal from an order awarding fees against him under § 1927 every time a court imposes a § 1927 sanction, it is apparent that the purpose of Congress in reducing litigation delays by amending § 1927 to include reasonable attorneys’ fees would be undermined by the very statute which sought to reduce unwarranted delays.
Hence, although the possibility of appellant’s prevailing on the merits may be of concern to his counsel that an appellate court might conclude that appellant or his counsel would be barred from pursuing an appeal merely because the client prevailed on the merits in the underlying action, this hardly rises to the level of rendering “impossible any review whatsoever,” Ryan, supra, 402 U.S. at 533, or destroying the “legal and practical value” of counsel’s right to challenge the fee order on appeal. MacDonald, supra, 435 U.S. at 860. On the contrary, the overriding policy of the Supreme Court in avoiding “piecemeal litigation”, Gillespie v. U.S. Steel Corp., 379 U.S. 148, 152-53 (1964), mandates waiting until entry of final judgment before appealing from the § 1927 fee award.
Finally, appellant suggests that the fee award may not be appealable in the event that the parties settle. The majority raises the spectre of an ethical dilemma for appellant’s attorney. Speculating on the course of settlement negotiations, the majority conjectures that, if the fee issue is linked to settlement negotiations, appellant’s attorney may be placed in an untenable ethical quandary. If speculate we must, the majority ignores an equally logical possibility, namely, that the parties might agree that the settlement does not determine the rights of either party with respect to an appeal from the § 1927 fee award. Indeed, appellee has suggested that appellant could reserve the right to appeal from the fee award if a settlement is reached. In any event, discussion of possible scenarios with respect to potential settlement of the case is reminiscent of the reference to the possibility of indelibly tainting the trial proceeding that the Supreme Court in Firestone found insufficient to render a collateral order denying disqualification “ ‘effectively unreviewable’ absent immediate appeal.” 449 U.S. at 376.
I am mindful that in a pre-Firestone case we suggested that an interim fee award might be appealable under the Cohen doctrine. Seigal v. Merrick, 619 F.2d 160, 164 n. 7 (2 Cir.1980). Seigal, however, arose in an unusual procedural context where the district court had dismissed the underlying complaint prior to our ruling on the appeal from the fee award. Id. at 164. On the other hand, in circumstances more analogous to the instant case, we have held that an appeal from a pre-judgment fee award where counsel engaged in dilatory conduct is not appealable under the Cohen doctrine. Alart Associates v. Aptaker, 402 F.2d 779, 780-81 (2 Cir.1968); see also Hastings v. Maine-Endwell Central School District, 676 F.2d 893, 896 (2 Cir.1982) (interim fee determination does not satisfy finality and effectively unreviewable requirements). Moreover, while the distinguished author of our Seigal decision has pointed out the century-old precursor of the Cohen collateral order doctrine, Trustees v. Greenough, 105 U.S. 527, 531 (1882), recent Supreme Court developments suggest that we might be acting at our peril if we were to ignore the numerous Supreme Court decisions after Cohen referred to above. They clearly indicate that the effectively unreviewable requirement imposes a heavy burden on a party seeking review of an interlocutory collateral order. Clearly the Supreme Court, when using language such as rendering any review “impossible” or “destroying” a party’s right to appeal, did not contemplate that a court of appeals would find the collateral order doctrine apposite when the *895prospect of a party losing his right to appeal from a collateral order after entry of final judgment is mere speculation — and especially when it is more probable that no injury will occur if an appeal is postponed until after entry of judgment in the underlying action. Appellant here has failed to establish that any irreparable harm will occur if the appeal from the § 1927 fee award is temporarily postponed.
Since appellant has failed to establish that the interim fee order is “effectively unreviewable”, I would dismiss the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction. From the majority’s refusal to do so, I respectfully dissent.4

. The underlying action is an employment discrimination one brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. § 623 (1976 & Supp. II 1978). If appellant should prevail in the underlying action, he will be entitled to seek an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees. Syvock v. Milwaukee Boiler Mfg. Co., 665 F.2d 149, 162-65 (7 Cir.1981) (fees awarded in ADEA action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (1976)); Frith v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 611 F.2d 950, 951 (4 Cir.1979). But see Alford v. City of Lubbock, Texas, 484 F.Supp. 1001, 1008 (N.D.Tex.1979), modified, 664 F.2d 1263 (5 Cir.), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 975 (1982).

. In 1980 Congress amended 28 U.S.C. § 1927 (1976 & Supp. IV 1980) after the Supreme Court in Roadway Express held that, absent congressional action, the reference to “costs” in § 1927 could not be construed to include reasonable attorneys’ fees. 447 U.S. at 757-63, 767. The 1980 amendment therefore added reasonable attorneys’ fees to the list of sanctions that a judge may impose upon a dilatory attorney under § 1927. H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 1234, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. 8, reprinted in 1980 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 2782-83.

. Although the House Conference Report speaks of “affordpng] the attorney all appropriate protections of due process available under the law” before the sanction is imposed, H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 1234, supra note 2, at 2783, clearly Congress intended that an attorney be given an opportunity to challenge the propriety of a sanction imposed against him under § 1927.

. Since in my view we have no appellate jurisdiction, it is neither necessary nor appropriate to reach the merits and I decline to do so.