Lopez v. United States
Lopez v. United States
Opinion
Case: 23-2431 Document: 11 Page: 1 Filed: 02/22/2024
NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ______________________
ARTHUR LOPEZ, Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
UNITED STATES, Defendant-Appellee ______________________
2023-2431 ______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims in No. 1:23-cv-00620-SSS, Judge Stephen S. Schwartz. ______________________
Before MOORE, Chief Judge, TARANTO and CHEN, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM. ORDER Arthur Lopez appeals from the United States Court of Federal Claims’s order denying his motion to reassign this case to another judge. Having considered Mr. Lopez’s re- sponse to this court’s show cause order, we dismiss. This court’s jurisdiction to review decisions of the Court of Federal Claims is generally limited to appeals “from a final decision,” 28 U.S.C. § 1295(a)(3), i.e., one that “end[s] the litigation on the merits and leave[s] nothing for Case: 23-2431 Document: 11 Page: 2 Filed: 02/22/2024
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the court to do but execute the judgment.” Haggart v. United States, 943 F.3d 943, 951 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (citation omitted). The order denying a motion to reassign did not end this litigation on the merits. Nor do the general exceptions to the final judgment rule apply here. The collateral order doctrine does not ap- ply because the order can effectively be reviewed on appeal after final judgment. See In re Preseault, Nos. 628 et al., 2000 WL 1300418, at *1 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 1, 2000) (dismiss- ing as premature); see also Shell Oil Co. v. United States, 672 F.3d 1283, 1288 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (reviewing issue on appeal after final judgment). * The trial court also did not enter a 28 U.S.C. § 1292(d)(2) certification, which permits appeal from orders that the trial court finds to be control- ling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion and that immediate appeal may materially advance the termination of the litigation. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED THAT: (1) The appeal is dismissed.
* Because a post-judgment appeal is an adequate remedy for asserting a recusal challenge, mandamus relief would also not be available to Mr. Lopez here. See Pre- seault, 2000 WL 1300418, at *2 (denying mandamus relief). Case: 23-2431 Document: 11 Page: 3 Filed: 02/22/2024
LOPEZ v. US 3
(2) All pending motions are denied. (3) Each party shall bear its own costs. FOR THE COURT
February 22, 2024 Date
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished