MBE Rules · Civil Procedure
Collateral order doctrine
Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan
The rule
A small class of interlocutory rulings may be appealed immediately: those that (1) conclusively determine the disputed question, (2) resolve an important issue completely separate from the merits, and (3) would be effectively unreviewable on appeal from a final judgment. Classic examples include denials of qualified immunity and orders denying claims of double jeopardy.
In plain English
The narrow escape hatch from the final judgment rule. Discovery orders and most evidentiary rulings do NOT qualify — they can be reviewed after final judgment.
The trap
Treating any adverse pretrial ruling as a collateral order.
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