In re Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation M.D.L. No. 150

788 F.2d 1571, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 24459
CourtTemporary Emergency Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 31, 1986
DocketNos. 9-87, 9-93 and 9-94
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 788 F.2d 1571 (In re Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation M.D.L. No. 150) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation M.D.L. No. 150, 788 F.2d 1571, 1986 U.S. App. LEXIS 24459 (tecoa 1986).

Opinion

WILLIAM H. BECKER, Judge.

These appeals in Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals (TECA), Nos. 9-87, 9-93 and 9-94 were consolidated and set for oral argument on December 12,1985. The writing of these opinions was originally assigned to the Honorable Ray McNichols, who had written the opinion and orders allowing an interlocutory appeal under § 1292(b), Title 28 U.S.C., in TECA No. 9-87 on limited issues. In Be: Coordinated Pre-Trial. Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation M.D.L. No. 150 (TECA 1985), 761 F.2d 710. Because of the sudden and untimely death of Judge McNichols, the writing of these opinions has been reassigned.1 The two opinions and judgments in the consolidated appeals follow.

APPEAL IN NO. 9-87

JUDGMENT DISMISSING INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL WITHOUT PREJUDICE

This interlocutory appeal previously permitted by this Court under § 1292(b) of Title 28, United States Code, [§ 1292(b)] will now be dismissed without prejudice to the factual and legal contentions of the parties, for reasons stated hereinafter.

The order of this Court, entered April 18, 1985 in TECA No. 9-87, granting the petition of the appellants City of Long Beach and State of California to appeal under § 1292(b) from a separate interlocutory partial summary judgment, entered July 19, 1984, by the United States District Court for the Central District of California, is reported in 761 F.2d at 712. In a separate order of April 18, 1985 in TECA No. 9-88, the petition of the appellants for permission to appeal from a second interlocutory partial summary judgment entered December 17, 1984, by the same District Court was denied. 761 F.2d at 712.

BASIC FACTS

Since December 18, 1975, more than ten years ago, the claims for relief of the appellants against appellees and others have been pending on a Second Amended Complaint in three counts, a copy of which (with caption and names of counsel omitted) is attached hereto as Addendum No. 1. It is noted that Count One of the Second Amended Complaint is a claim for relief under federal antitrust statutes. Count Two is a pendent claim for relief under California state antitrust law, Sections 16,-700-16,758 of the Business and Professions Code, based on the same factual allegations made in Count One. Count Three is a pendent claim for relief under California state law based on an alleged breach of contract.

These antitrust actions and the contract action against the appellees herein, and others, ultimately became a part of the multi-district litigation pending in the United States District Court of the Central District of California entitled In Re: Coordinated Pretrial Proceedings in Petroleum Products Antitrust Litigation, M.D.L. No. 150 (J.P.M.L.1976) 419 F.Supp. 712. In that multidistrict litigation, the transferee District Court in 1984 by separate orders of [1573]*1573July 19, 1984, and December 17, 1984, entered the two partial summary judgments against appellants on issues that appellants contend are within the exclusive appellate jurisdiction of this Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals of the United States (TECA). As stated in the prior opinion of this Court in 761 F.2d at 711, the District Court rendered those two separate partial summary judgments entered an opinion and order in writing, under § 1292(b), that an interlocutory appeal from the two summary judgment decisions involved controlling questions of law on which there were substantial grounds for difference of opinions, and that an immediate interlocutory appeal under § 1292(b) from the two decisions granting the summary judgments, may materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation. Joint Appendix (J.A.) 120. Appellants filed simultaneous petitions for interlocutory appeals under § 1292(b) in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and in this Court (TECA). Thereafter the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied without prejudice the petitions for interlocutory appeals to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals under § 1292(b) on the grounds of lack of subject matter jurisdiction in that the interlocutory appeals appeared to be within the exclusive jurisdiction of this Court.

Recent Factual Developments

After we permitted this interlocutory appeal in TECA No. 9-87, there have been judicial and factual developments in the District Court in the underlying actions that have caused us to decide, among other things, to dismiss this interlocutory appeal in TECA No. 9-87 without prejudice to the factual and legal contentions of the parties on any of the issues involved.

§ 1292(b) provides expressly “That application for an appeal hereunder shall not stay proceedings in the district court unless the district judge or the Court of Appeals, or a judge thereof shall so order.” In the absence of such an order staying proceedings, the District Court continued the pretrial processing of the actions of the appellants, the City of Long Beach and State of California, as a part of M.D.L. 150, supra. In the course of that continued pretrial processing, on June 19, 1985, the District Court entered a partial Summary Judgment against appellants on Count One and Count Two. J.A. 3740-3741. This summary judgment was followed three months later, on September 19, 1985, by entry by the District Court of a Memorandum of Decision Granting Defendants Summary Judgment Motions Regarding Antitrust Claims (Memorandum). J.A. 3742-3785.

In this Memorandum, the District Court directed entry of a final judgment on Count One and Count Two under Rule 54(a) F.R. Civ.P.J.A. 3784. No further judgment entry appears of record. From the presumed final judgment each of the appellants attempted to appeal, although all counsel agree that appellants thereafter filed a post judgment motion to alter, amend and reconsider the judgment dismissing Counts One and Two, pursuant to Rule 59(e), F.R. Civ.P. These attempted appeals from the presumed final partial summary judgment on Counts One and Two were docketed as TECA Nos. 9-93 and 9-94, and were consolidated by this Court with this appeal in TECA No. 9-87. However, appellants and appellees at a formal prehearing conference on December 12, 1985, preceding oral argument before the Panel, agreed, for different reasons that the appeals in Nos. 9-93 and 9-94 were not effective. The record on the material part of this prehear-ing conference is quoted in the opinion and judgment, hereinafter, dismissing without prejudice the consolidated appeals in Nos. 9-93 and 9-94 under § 1291, Title 28 U.S.C. (§ 1291). The opinion and judgment of this Court dismissing the appeals without prejudice in Nos. 9-93 and 9-94 follows this opinion and judgment in No. 9-87.

Reasons for Dismissal Without Prejudice

After the granting of an interlocutory appeal under § 1292(b), the entry of a judgment final in form, purporting to settle the issues in controversy, does not auto[1574]*1574matically render the interlocutory appeal moot and require its dismissal. Under these circumstances, the dismissal of the interlocutory appeal, permitted earlier, remains in the judicial discretion of this Court. 2 Federal Procedure, Lawyers Edition, § 3.625, pages 595-596; 32 Am.Jur.2d Federal Practice and Procedure, § 339, pages 830-831; Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S.

Related

In Re K-Dur Antitrust Litigation
686 F.3d 197 (Third Circuit, 2012)
City of Long Beach v. Exxon Corp.
830 F.2d 198 (Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals, 1987)

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