Interlocutory Appeal – Jurisdiction

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Philip G. Groves v. United States of America

Case No.: 17-2937

Officials: SYKES, BARRETT, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Interlocutory Appeal – Jurisdiction

When a district court certifies an order for review before final judgment, parties have only ten days to petition us to hear the interlocutory appeal. Decades ago, we provided a way to circumvent that deadline: district courts could reenter or recertify their orders, restarting the clock, whenever doing so would further the purpose of the interlocutory review statute. But more recent Supreme Court cases call that workaround into question. The Court has emphasized—as recently as a few months ago—that federal courts have no authority to read equitable exceptions into fixed filing deadlines. In light of the Court’s precedent, we conclude that we were wrong to hold that district courts can extend the ten‐day window by simply reentering or recertifying their orders. We therefore dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

Dismissed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.