Myers v. Bucca, 671 F. App'x 9

Pro se plaintiff Scott Myers appealed the district court’s sua sponte dismissal of most claims in his Second Amended Complaint, leaving only a § 1983 malicious-prosecution claim against Patrolman Rowell to proceed.
The district court (after a magistrate recommendation) dismissed several claims but did not enter a partial final judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b).
Myers also challenged denials of various pretrial motions (including a motion to stay and a motion described as to bifurcate).
The Second Circuit considered whether it had appellate jurisdiction over Myers’s appeal from those orders.
The panel concluded the challenged orders were not final judgments, not certified under Rule 54(b), and not appealable interlocutory or collateral orders.
The Court dismissed the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction and denied Myers’s motions as moot, expressing no view on the merits.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the appeal presents a final judgment under 28 U.S.C. § 1291	Myers argued the district court’s dismissals were appealable	Appellees argued no final judgment existed because one claim remained and no Rule 54(b) entry was made	Appeal not from a final judgment; no jurisdiction
Whether denial of Rule 54(b) certification (or denial of bifurcation construed as such) is immediately appealable	Myers sought immediate review of dismissed claims	Appellees contended denial of certification is not a final appealable order	Denial (or failure to enter) Rule 54(b) certification is not a final order; no jurisdiction
Whether denials of motions to stay or to bifurcate are appealable interlocutory orders	Myers challenged those pretrial rulings on appeal	Appellees argued such denials are non-final interlocutory matters	Denials of stay/bifurcation are not final; no jurisdiction
Whether any challenged order qualifies under the collateral-order doctrine	Myers implied some orders were effectively unreviewable on appeal	Appellees argued orders did not meet collateral-order criteria	Orders not within collateral-order doctrine; no jurisdiction

Petrello v. White, 533 F.3d 110 (2d Cir. 2008) (jurisdiction under § 1291 for final judgments)
In re Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, N.Y., Inc., 745 F.3d 30 (2d Cir. 2014) (definition of final decision)
Citizens Accord, Inc. v. Town of Rochester, 235 F.3d 126 (2d Cir. 2000) (finality and Rule 54(b) requirements)
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. v. Mayacamas Corp., 485 U.S. 271 (U.S. 1988) (denial of stay is not a final judgment)
In re Master Key Antitrust Litig., 528 F.2d 5 (2d Cir. 1975) (bifurcation not a final order)
Makuc v. Am. Honda Motor Co., Inc., 692 F.2d 172 (1st Cir. 1982) (denial of Rule 54(b) certification not final)
United States v. Prevezon Holdings Ltd., 839 F.3d 227 (2d Cir. 2016) (limits of collateral-order doctrine)