Ervco, Inc. v. Texaco Refining & Marketing, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Erveo, Inc., and its owners, Daniel and Sharie Ervin, appeal: (1) the district court’s pre-trial, sua sponte grant of judgment as a matter of law (“JMOL”) under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a)(1) in favor of Equilon Enterprises, LLC in Erveo’s suit for alleged violations of the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2801 et seq. (“PMPA”); (2) the grant of summary judgment on Equilon’s contractual counterclaim; (3) the award of attorneys’ fees to Equilon; and (4) several evidentiary determinations underlying those rulings. We have jurisdiction to consider the first three issues pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse and remand. Because we reverse the district court’s grant of JMOL, this court does not have jurisdiction to address Erveo’s appeal of the district court’s grant of Equilon’s motions in limine striking Daniel Ervin’s second declaration, Maria Kasem’s declaration, and Erveo’s damages figure. See Coursen v. A.H. Robins Co., 764 F.2d 1329, 1342 (9th Cir.1985) (holding that motions in limine are not themselves final appealable orders under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 where there is no final decision on the merits of the litigation). The parties are…