The Appealability of Partial Judgments in Consolidated Cases

Imagine that a district court has consolidated several suits against a single defendant, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a).1 The court grants summary judgment in the defendant's favor on the largest claim. The affected plaintiff may want to appeal this judgment immediately, even though the other claims are still pending. The appellate court lacks jurisdiction of the appeal, however, unless it deems the partial judgment a final decision; if the judgment is a final decision it can be appealed immediately,2 but if not, the affected plaintiff must wait for all the consolidated cases to be resolved before filing an appeal. If the appeal were from an unconsolidated case involving multiple claims or parties, the circuit court's determination of jurisdiction would be simple. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b),' district courts are empowered to "certify" partial judgments as final upon an express determination that there is no just reason for delay. If the district court does not certify the judgment