The Concept Of Appealability

Appealability" is a threshold jurisdictional consideration that incorporates a requirement of "appealable paper" and relates to the issue of whether a direct appeal, either as of right or by permission, may be taken to the Appellate Division from the judgment or order in question. Judging by the volume of decisions dismissing appeals on the court's own motion for lack of appealability, practitioners often overlook it before embarking upon the time and expense of an appeal.

CPLR 5512(a) ("Appealable paper") provides in pertinent part that "[a]n initial appeal shall be taken from the judgment or order of the court of original instance." Generally, the test for identifying an appealable "judgment or order" is whether the court has entered a written order that determines "a motion made upon supporting papers" (see CPLR 2219[a]) or a judgment that determines "the rights of the parties in an action or special proceeding" and "refer[s] to, and state[s] the result of, the