Sierra National Insurance Holdings v. Credit Lyonnais S. A.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Appellants, defendants Aurora National Life Assurance Company and New California Life Holdings, Inc. (“Aurora”), file this interlocutory appeal from the district court’s order granting in part and denying in part a motion to dismiss filed by all defendants. Aurora appeals the district court’s denial of its motion to dismiss plaintiffs state tort claim of interference with business expectancy. Plaintiff, Sierra National Insurance Holdings, Inc. (“Sierra”), cross-appeals dismissal of its RICO claims and its state tort claim of negligent interference with business expectancy.
The parties seek appellate review on the basis of 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , which is warranted on an interlocutory basis only under the collateral order rule, which provides “that certain orders may be appealed, notwithstanding the absence of final judgment, but only when they are conclusive, resolve important questions separate from the merits, and are effectively unreviewable on appeal from the final judgment in the underlying action.” Cunningham v. Hamilton County, Ohio, 527 U.S. 198, 202 , 119 S.Ct. 1915 , 144 L.Ed.2d 184 (1999) (internal quotation omitted).