J. L. Ex Rel. N.L. v. Downey Unified School District

ORDER

Downey Unified School District (School District) appeals from a district court order remanding to the California Office of Administrative Hearings for further factual findings and legal conclusions. Because the School District appeals from a non-final order to which none of the exceptions to the final judgment rule apply, we lack jurisdiction. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal.

Ordinarily, a district court order remanding to a state agency for further factual determinations is not a final decision for purposes of appellate jurisdiction. See Shapiro v. Paradise Valley Unified Sch. Dist. No. 69, 152 F.3d 1159, 1161 (9th Cir.1998) (noting that a remand order is treated as a final order only in “unusual circumstances”). The parties assert that appellate jurisdiction is proper under the practical finality doctrine of Gillespie v. United States Steel Corp., 379 U.S. 148 , 85 S.Ct. 308 , 13 L.Ed.2d 199 (1964). Under that doctrine all of the following factors must be satisfied: (1) the order being appealed is a “marginally final” order (2) that “disposed of an unsettled issue of national significance”; (3) review will implement the same policy Congress sought to promote in §…