Arbitration.

Byline: Derek Hawkins

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: INTL FCStone Financial Inc. v. Dave Jacobson, et al.,

Case No.: 19-2111; 19-2123

Officials: MANION, KANNE, and BRENNAN, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Arbitration

Investors in commodities futures appeal an order to arbitrate their trading disputes. But they stumble out of the blocks: our review is limited to "final decisions of the district courts." 28 U.S.C. 1291. Here, the district court ordered arbitration and designated an arbitration forum, then stayed the case to address related issues, including the arbitration venue. Put more simply, the district court made non-final decisions.

Although statutory exceptions exist to the rule of finality, none apply here. Because this case remained open to resolve certain issues, we dismiss...