Also known as: interlocutory decrees · interlocutory order
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A nonfinal judicial order that resolves some but not all issues between the parties without disposing of the entire action.
ValleyCare Health System moved in federal district court to require a malpractice class to post a substantial security bond under state law. The district court denied the motion. ValleyCare appealed at once. The denial conclusively resolved a claimed right to cost protection that stood separate from the malpractice claims and would be lost if review waited until final judgment.
Plaintiff consulted counsel about divorce rights in her husband's pension. Counsel filed the action and obtained an interlocutory decree that awarded no pension interest. Years later plaintiff learned she might have possessed rights at the time of the decree. The interlocutory nature of the decree left the pension claim unresolved until a later malpractice suit.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
An interlocutory decree is immediately appealable when it satisfies the collateral order doctrine by conclusively determining a disputed question, resolving an important issue separate from the merits, and proving effectively unreviewable after final judgment.
A district court order that grants injunctive relief remains appealable even if the court simultaneously stays enforcement pending another proceeding. The grant itself triggers appellate jurisdiction under the statute authorizing review of injunction orders.
Only a final judgment receives full preclusive effect under full faith and credit. An interlocutory decree does not qualify because it does not finally dispose of the claims.
A discovery order ordinarily does not qualify because it fails the collateral order test when a protective order limits use and the issue remains tied to the merits.
…annulment of her marriage to him. In this proceeding Walter Henzel also appeared. On June 6, 1947, the New York court entered an interlocutory decree after trial which became final three months thereafter. This judgment declared that petitioner’s marriage to Henzel was “null and void” for the reason that he “had another wife living at…