Satcom Intern. Group v. Orbcomm Intern. Partners

55 F. Supp. 2d 231
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 29, 1999
Docket98 CIV. 9095(DLC)
StatusPublished

This text of 55 F. Supp. 2d 231 (Satcom Intern. Group v. Orbcomm Intern. Partners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Satcom Intern. Group v. Orbcomm Intern. Partners, 55 F. Supp. 2d 231 (S.D.N.Y. 1999).

Opinion

55 F.Supp.2d 231 (1999)

SATCOM INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLC, Plaintiff,
v.
ORBCOMM INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS, L.P., Defendant.

No. 98 CIV. 9095(DLC).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

June 29, 1999.

*232 Leon P. Gold, John Siegal, Proskauer Rose LLP, New York City, for plaintiff.

David J. Grais, Michael P. De Simone, Deborah J. Verdile, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, New York, Peter M. Brody, J. Steven Baughman, Ropes & Gray, Washington, DC, for defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

COTE, District Judge.

On December 23, 1998, plaintiff SATCOM International Group PLC ("SATCOM") filed this action seeking damages and a permanent injunction as well as interim injunctive relief against defendant *233 ORBCOMM International Partners, L.P. ("ORBCOMM"). On March 18, 1999, the Court issued an Order denying the motion for a preliminary injunction. On April 20, 1999, SATCOM filed a notice of appeal from this Court's March 18, 1999 Order, which notice was subsequently withdrawn.

On May 27, 1999, the Court issued an Opinion and Order denying plaintiff's motion to stay proceedings before this Court pending arbitration and granting defendant's cross motion to stay arbitration and to enjoin plaintiff from further proceeding in arbitration. The next day plaintiff filed a notice of appeal from that Opinion and Order and filed a motion before this Court "for an order enjoining any further prosecution of this action during the pendency of plaintiff's appeal" until the issuance of the mandate of the court of appeals. On the same day, the Court declined to decide plaintiff's motion on ripeness grounds since the defendant had not yet indicated an intent to proceed with active litigation before this Court during the pendency of the appeal. On June 4, 1999, defendant wrote the Court indicating its intent to proceed before this Court by filing a motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff's motion is therefore ripe for adjudication.[1]

In general,

"[t]he filing of a notice of appeal is an event of jurisdictional significance — it confers jurisdiction on the court of appeals and divests the district court of its control over those aspects of the case involved in the appeal."

United States v. Rodgers, 101 F.3d 247, 251 (2d Cir.1996) (quoting Griggs v. Provident Consumer Discount Co., 459 U.S. 56, 58, 103 S.Ct. 400, 74 L.Ed.2d 225 (1982)). The district court does not regain jurisdiction until issuance of the mandate by the court of appeals. Id. The divestiture of jurisdiction, however, is not "automatic" and instead is "guided by concerns of efficiency ...." Id. "`[I]t is a judge made rule originally devised in the context of civil appeals to avoid confusion or waste of time resulting from having the same issues before two courts at the same time.'" United States v. Salerno, 868 F.2d 524, 540 (2d Cir.1989), (quoting United States v. Claiborne, 727 F.2d 842, 850 (9th Cir.1984)). As noted by the Second Circuit:

Whatever the superficial attractiveness of a per se rule that filing of a notice of appeal automatically divests the district court of jurisdiction as to matters covered by the notice, such a rule is subject to abuse, and our application of the divestiture rule must be faithful to the principle of judicial economy from which it springs.

Rodgers, 101 F.3d at 251. Thus, in appropriate circumstances, the filing of an appeal does not divest the district court of jurisdiction. For example, the district court retains jurisdiction if the filing of the notice of appeal was from a non-appealable order. See Rodgers, 101 F.3d at 252; Burger King Corp. v. Horn & Hardart Co., 893 F.2d 525, 527 (2d Cir.1990); SEC v. America Bd. of Trade, Inc., 829 F.2d 341, 344 (2d Cir.1987); Leonhard v. United States, 633 F.2d 599, 610 (2d Cir.1980).

Appellate jurisdiction is defined by statute and "generally is limited to appeals from final judgments of the district court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and from certain interlocutory orders pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292." Kahn v. Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., 91 F.3d 385, 387 (2d. Cir.1996). Where the appeal is from a final judgment, the district court can take only limited action during pendency of the appeal. For example, the district court is free to correct clerical errors in a judgment or order without leave of the court of appeals prior to the docketing of the appeal, see Rule 60(a), Fed.R.Civ.P.; Burger King, 893 F.2d at 527, and to take actions in aid of the appeal, see Rule 7, 8, Fed. R.App. P. A district court may also, without leave, *234 grant relief to preserve the status quo pending appeal. See Rule 62(c), Fed. R.Civ.P.; Kidder, Peabody & Co. v. Maxus Energy Corp., 925 F.2d 556, 565 (2d Cir.1991); International Ass'n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 847 F.2d 1014, 1018 (2d Cir.1988). The district court may deny a Rule 60(b) motion after the filing of the notice of appeal, although it lacks jurisdiction to grant such a motion. See Selletti v. Carey, 173 F.3d 104, 109 (2d Cir.1999) (citing Toliver v. County of Sullivan, 957 F.2d 47, 49 (2d Cir.1992)). Finally, where the final judgment entered by the district court does not reach the question of attorney's fees, the district court may proceed to award fees during pendency of the appeal. See Toliver, 957 F.2d at 49; 15B Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3915.6 (2d ed.1992). See also Compania Espanola de Petroleos, S.A. v. Nereus Shipping, S.A., 527 F.2d 966, 973 (2d Cir.1975) (district may order consolidation unrelated to final order during pendency of the appeal).

Appeals from interlocutory orders are generally authorized by the "collateral order" exception to the final order rule and by 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)-(b). See Rein v. Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, 162 F.3d 748, 755 (2d Cir. 1998). In such cases, jurisdiction is divested only with respect to "issues decided in the order being appealed." Webb v. GAF Corp., 78 F.3d 53, 55 (2d Cir.1996).

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Related

Griggs v. Provident Consumer Discount Co.
459 U.S. 56 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Leonhard v. United States
633 F.2d 599 (Second Circuit, 1980)
United States v. Harry Eugene Claiborne
727 F.2d 842 (Ninth Circuit, 1984)
Britton v. Co-Op Banking Group
916 F.2d 1405 (Ninth Circuit, 1990)
Filanto, S.P.A. v. Chilewich International Corp.
984 F.2d 58 (Second Circuit, 1993)
Kahn v. Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A.
91 F.3d 385 (Second Circuit, 1996)
United States v. John Frank Rodgers
101 F.3d 247 (Second Circuit, 1996)
Selletti v. Carey
173 F.3d 104 (Second Circuit, 1999)
Desktop Images, Inc. v. Ames
930 F. Supp. 1450 (D. Colorado, 1996)
Ellsworth Associates, Inc. v. United States
917 F. Supp. 841 (District of Columbia, 1996)
Webb v. GAF Corp.
78 F.3d 53 (Second Circuit, 1996)

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Bluebook (online)
55 F. Supp. 2d 231, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/satcom-intern-group-v-orbcomm-intern-partners-nysd-1999.