Law is often a balance between efficiency and justice. To strike that balance with appeals, both California and the federal system follow the “final judgment rule” from old English law. All orders are considered “interlocutory” until the entire case has concluded, and interlocutory orders generally can’t be appealed. Only after the trial court issues a final judgment resolving all claims can a party appeal the trial court’s rulings. The benefits of this rule are obvious, since piecemeal appeals can be costly and inefficient. Can you imagine how long it would take to resolve a case if the parties could immediately appeal every decision leading up to trial? The appellate courts would be swamped.
Courts often say the final judgment rule must be “strictly applied.” Like many “strict” rules, however, it has a number of exceptions. You have a statutory right to immediate appellate review of injunctions and significant sanction orders, for instance, and you can take an immediate appeal of certain issues that are considered “collateral” to the main dispute.
