On April 13, 2015, WLF filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, urging it not to grant plaintiffs a guaranteed right to file an interlocutory appeal, that is, an appeal from a non-final trial court order in response to a trial court decision not to certify the case as a class action. WLF argued that the Ninth Circuit’s new policy of allowing interlocutory appeals will encourage multiple, piecemeal appeals from a single lawsuit and thereby undermine efforts to ensure the orderly administration of justice. WLF noted that Congress in 1998 adopted a new appeal rule that permits an appeals court, at its sole discretion, to allow immediate appeal by either plaintiffs or defendants from a class certification ruling. WLF argued that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in this case is inconsistent with the new rule because it deprives appeals courts of their discretion not to hear an appeal and because it is biased against defendants (who are not given automatic appeal rights).
