In federal court, it is quite clear that denial of summary judgment is not, absent special circumstances, a separately appealable issue as in, Levy v. Sterling Holding, 544 F.3d 493, 501 n. 6 (3d Cir. 2008). “Once the case proceeds to trial, the full record developed in court supersedes the record existing at the time of the summary-judgment motion.” See, Ortiz v. Jordan, 562 U.S. 180, 184 (2011). Two special circumstances permitting appellate review of a denial of summary judgment in federal court are: denial of the defense of qualified immunity, Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 528-29 (1985), and; denial of summary judgment simultaneously with grant of a cross-motion for summary judgment.

In Pennsylvania state court, however, until recently, the existence of a similar rule has been unclear. While “it is well-settled in this commonwealth that the denial of a motion for summary judgment is interlocutory and not appealable,” as in Paparelli v. GAF, 549 A.2d 597, 598 (Pa. Super. 1988), it is less certain whether summary judgment denials, like other interlocutory orders, “become reviewable on appeal upon the trial court’s entry of a final order,” when litigation is resolved through trial. See, Quinn v. Bupp, 955 A.2d 1014, 1020 (Pa. Super. 2008).  Pennsylvania appellate precedent now appears to be converging on the federal rule.

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