Crocs, Inc. v. International Trade Commission

Under the final judgment rule, a judicial or agency decision is final, and thus ripe for appellate review, only once there is nothing left to decide. That longstanding rule ensures clear guidance for litigants, safeguards judicial resources, and avoids needless piecemeal appeals. Nonetheless, the Federal Circuit below announced a different rule for determinations of the International Trade Commission under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. When the Commission issues a single determination excluding some products from entry but finding no violation for others, the court of appeals held that the decision is final only as to the Commission’s no-violation findings. As the Federal Circuit acknowledged, the rule it announced below not only permits, but indeed compels, piecemeal appeals by a single party from the same administrative decision. In so doing, the Federal Circuit deepened an acknowledged split among the courts of appeals on the standard for finality of agency decisions. The question presented is: Whether an agency disposition is final as to some issues, thus triggering deadlines for judicial review, while other issues decided in the same disposition remain subject to further executive or administrative review.