In Re: Sonya Owens, Civil Action No. 2017-0637

Debtor Sonya Owens filed a Chapter 13 petition in Feb 2017 and sought to pay the $310 filing fee in installments.
The Bankruptcy Clerk denied the installment request (noting a prior unpaid fee) and ordered Owens to pay the fee in full; the Clerk also identified missing/deficient documents and gave deadlines to cure.
Owens appealed the February 2017 docket entries; the bankruptcy record was transmitted and Owens’ opening brief was due May 17, 2017 but was never filed.
The district court issued an August 3 minute order directing Owens to file an opening brief by Aug 24; she failed to comply and offered no explanation or extension request.
While the interlocutory appeal was pending, the Bankruptcy Court dismissed Owens’ case in April 2017 for failure to file a required form; Owens did not file a separate appeal from that dismissal.
The district court dismissed the appeal for (1) Owens’ failure to file an appellate brief and (2) lack of jurisdiction to review the interlocutory, ministerial bankruptcy orders she challenged.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court should dismiss the appeal for failure to file an opening brief	Owens did not contest missed briefing deadline (no brief filed)	Court: Rule 8018(a)(4) permits dismissal after notice when appellant fails to file brief	Dismissal warranted for failure to file brief after notice and extended deadline
Whether the district court has jurisdiction to review the appealed interlocutory bankruptcy orders without leave	Owens contends Bankruptcy Court’s procedural orders and denial of installment fee request violated due process and were appealable	Court/Respondent: 28 U.S.C. §158 limits appeals as of right to final orders; interlocutory orders require leave under §158(a)(3)	Court lacks jurisdiction over interlocutory case-management orders; dismissal for lack of jurisdiction
Whether a premature notice of appeal of interlocutory orders can be treated as an appeal from the later dismissal of the bankruptcy case	Owens’ pending notice of appeal should allow review of the subsequent dismissal	Court: FirsTier precludes treating notice from a clearly interlocutory decision as notice of appeal from a later final judgment unless the earlier order would be appealable if immediately followed by judgment	A premature notice did not ripen into an appeal of the later dismissal; Owens did not appeal the final dismissal

FirsTier Mortg. Co. v. Investors Mortg. Ins. Co., 498 U.S. 269 (addressing when a premature notice of appeal from an interlocutory order can serve as a notice of appeal from a later final judgment)