Opinion
Civil Action No. 99-2957 Section "C" (3)
October 25, 2000.
On October 5, 2000, the Court denied the Motion of Defendant Ray Brandt Dodge, Inc. ("Dodge") for summary judgment. (Rec. Doc. 22) Dodge now petitions the Court for permission to appeal that decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The denial of a motion for summary judgment is generally not considered an appealable final order. See 28 U.S.C. § 1291;Flour Ocean Servs. Inc. v. Hampton, 502 F.2d 1169, 1170 (5th Cir. 1974) ("an order denying a motion for summary judgment is interlocutory and, thus, is not appealable under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1291"). In this case, the Court determined that there were outstanding disputed issues of material fact surrounding the relationship between Edward J. Tourelle and Dodge. Furthermore, the Court observes that piecemeal appeals are generally frowned upon. See. e.g., Whalen v. County of Fulton, 19 F.3d 828, 829 (2d Cir. 1994) ("In the interest of judicial economy, appellate courts do not freely allow exceptions to the final judgment requirement for appellate jurisdiction. To do otherwise would invite a plethora of piecemeal appeals.").
For these reasons, the Court finds that the matter is not appropriate for review at this time. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that Defendant's Motion for Permission to Petition for Appeal is HEREBY DENIED.