This month, we discuss Liberty Synergistics v. Microflo,1 in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit addressed novel questions concerning appellate jurisdiction and choice of law in diversity cases. The decision, written by Judge José A. Cabranes and joined by Judges John M. Walker Jr. and Richard C. Wesley, held that appellate jurisdiction existed under the collateral order doctrine to review a federal district court's choice-of-law ruling that a California procedural device was not available to defend against a New York cause of action. In finding jurisdiction to hear the appeal, the Second Circuit ruled that the denial of defendants' motion to strike plaintiff's complaint was sufficiently "final" to warrant immediate appellate review.
Having exercised appellate jurisdiction, the court concluded that the district court had confused two related but distinct choice-of-law inquiries and held that even if New York law governed plaintiff's claim, California law still would govern defendants' motion to strike the complaint. Liberty Synergistics offers both a careful consideration of the propriety of appellate intervention prior to entry of a final judgment below and a clear explanation of how district courts should approach complex choice-of-law determinations in diversity actions.
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