Okorie v. Citizens Financial Group
- Case Type:
- Business
- Case Status:
- Dismissed
- Citation:
- 25-60048 (5th Circuit, Jun 26,2025) Not Published
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- The bankruptcy court’s declination to recuse is an interlocutory order not subject to the collateral-order doctrine.
- Procedural context:
- Debtor-Appellant appeals a district-court order denying him leave to appeal a bankruptcy court’s interlocutory ruling.
- Facts:
- This case derives from identical motions to recuse the bankruptcy judge that the debtor filed in his bankruptcy case and a related adversary proceeding. The bankruptcy judge denied the motions in a single ruling, and the debtor sought review by the district court.
The district court observed that the ruling appealed—viz., the bankruptcy court’s denial of identical motions to recuse—was nonfinal, which precluded an appeal as of right. The court then liberally construed Okorie’s notice of appeal as a motion for leave to appeal, and denied the recharacterized motion under the standard for appealing interlocutory rulings under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b).
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and held that because both rulings at bar are definitionally nonfinal, the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction and that the case must be dismissed.
- Judge(s):
- Davis, Smith & Higginson (Per curiam)
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