WILLIAMS v. OFFICE OF GOVERNOR (2020)

Brandon Williams filed a notice of appeal in the district court, where his civil action was pending. Appellees have moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, and Williams has responded with a motion for judgment as a matter of law.

Williams failed to identify the order from which he seeks to appeal, in violation of Fed. R. App. P. 3(c)(1)(B). When Williams filed his notice of appeal, the only order on the docket was the order referring his motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis to the magistrate judge. If Williams is seeking to appeal that order or the Clerk’s letter advising him to respond to the motion to dismiss, the appeal is interlocutory, and we lack jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291, 1292 (2018); Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b); Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 545-46, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949). Otherwise, we lack jurisdiction because there was no other order from which Williams could have appealed.

Accordingly, we deny Williams’ motion for judgment as a matter of law, grant Appellees’ motion to dismiss, and dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED

PER CURIAM:

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.