Requirements of Rule 54(b) on display in recent oral arguments

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Goldberg Segalla focusing on professional liability defense, insurance coverage litigation, and general tort defense. He is the legislative chair of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel. Eckler also is the co-host of the Podium and Panel podcast with Daniel Cotter. His views are his own and not those of his firm or its clients.

Posted January 19, 2022 9:38 AM

Building on columns in this space on appellate jurisdiction from Nov. 25, 2020, and Dec. 22, 2021, two oral arguments before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week demonstrated two subtle, but important, distinctions between Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) and Illinois Supreme Court Rule 304(a).Always watchful for appellate jurisdiction, in both Mwangangi v. Root and Systems Solutions of Kentucky v. DHL, but especially in the former, Judge Frank H. Easterbrook closely questioned counsel on whether there was …

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