Another typical day at the office. The phone rings. On the line is an experienced Pennsylvania state court trial attorney, exasperated because the Pennsylvania Superior Court has just dismissed his client’s appeal as premature. What’s worse, the dismissal order issued more than 30 days after the trial court had issued a final, appealable judgment, meaning that if the dismissal stands then his client will receive no appellate review whatsoever of the trial court’s adverse decision.

I agree to help. As always, the next step is to learn more about what happened so that I can advise whether any hope exists to get the dismissal order vacated by the Superior Court or reviewed and set aside by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The case’s relevant procedural history was as follows: The case had proceeded to a nonjury trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, after which the trial judge issued findings of fact and conclusions of law and returned a decision in favor of the defendants and against the plaintiff.

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