Publications
Collateral Order Appeals
It is with some trepidation that one ventures into a discussion of the collateral order doctrine, an arcane and complicated area of appellate law. As the 1st U.S.Circuit court of Appeals has noted, “no one can make a seamless web out of all of the decisions on collateral orders.” U.S. v. Billmyer, 57 F3d 31, 35 (1st Cir. 1995). A central theme in the case law, however, is that the lower court order at issue must be “important” —in some way—to qualify for immediate appeal under the collateral order doctrine.
