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Gaining Appellate Review By "Manufacturing" A Final Judgment Through Voluntary Dismissal Of Peripheral Claims, Rebecca A. Cochran

Mercer Law Review

In recent decades, the paths from federal district courts to the federal circuit courts of appeals have narrowed considerably. Appeals through rule 54(b), section 1292(b), the collateral order doctrine, and other litigants and judges to test the limits of the most prevalent appellate path-appeal from a final judgment. This Article argues that the purposes of the final judgment rule, including judicial economy, are served, not hindered, by voluntary dismissals with prejudice of peripheral claims to render final an earlier ruling that decided the heart of the litigation.

First, this Article profiles the district court cases in which peripheral claims dismissals …