Pennsylvania's Appellate Courts Strike Out On Their Own Collateral Order Path

The collateral order doctrine originated as a creature of federal appellate law that provided a means of securing appellate review even though an order did not formally end a case. Slowly, the Pennsylvania courts adopted the doctrine, codifying it in 1992 as part of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure. At first, Pennsylvania courts followed the federal courts in emphasizing that it should be used only in narrow circumstances. However, the past decade has seen a significant change from this practice. Appellate Practice Group chair Bruce Merenstein examines this divergence in the article "Pennsylvania's Appellate Courts Strike Out on Their Own Collateral Order Path," the first part of which was published in the October 2016 issue of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly. The second part of the article will appear in the January 2017 issue of the journal.