Chapter 5 - § 5.1 • REQUIREMENT OF FINALITY

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 5.1 • REQUIREMENT OF FINALITY

Ordinarily, a judgment must be final before an appeal may be taken. C.R.S. § 13-4-102(1); C.A.R. 1(a)(1); Gergel v. High View Homes, L.L.C., 58 P.3d 1132, 1134 (Colo. App. 2002). "A judgment is final and therefore appealable if it disposes of the entire litigation on its merits, leaving nothing for the court to do but execute on the judgment." Grand County Custom Homebuilding, LLC v. Bell, 148 P.3d 398, 400 (Colo. App. 2006); see also E. Cherry Creek Valley Water & Sanitation Dist. v. Greeley Irrigation Co., 2015 CO 30M, ¶ 11 ("A final judgment is one that ends the particular action and leaves nothing more for the trial court to do to completely determine the rights of the parties."); BDG Int'l, Inc. v. Bowers, 303 P.3d 140, 145 (Colo. App. 2013). However, named but unserved defendants are not litigants for purposes of determining the appealability of an order under the final judgment rule. Rea v. Corrections Corp. of Am., 272 P.3d 1143, 1145-46 (Colo. 2012). Thus, for example, the following orders may not be appealed:

• An order quashing service of process, Hoen v. Dist. Court, 412 P.2d 428, 455 (Colo. 1966); cf. Colo. State Bd. of Accountancy v. Arthur Andersen L.L.P., 116 P.3d 1245, 1249-50 (Colo. App. 2005) (order partially enforcing and partially quashing subpoena, which concluded special statutory proceeding brought by the board and disposed of all matters pending before the trial court, was an appealable final judgment);
• An order dismissing a complaint without prejudice, Schoenwald v. Schoen, 286 P.2d 341, 342 (Colo. 1955); cf. FSDW, LLC v. First Nat'l Bank, 94 P.3d 1260, 1262-64 (Colo. App. 2004) (order denying the defendant's terms and conditions for the plaintiff's voluntary dismissal of claims under C.R.C.P. 41(a)(2) was appealable); UIH-SFCC Holdings, L.P. v. Brigato, 51 P.3d 1076, 1077 (Colo. App. 2002) (trial court's dismissal of an action without prejudice is considered final and appealable if further action by the plaintiff would be barred by statute of limitations);
• An order denying judgment on the pleadings, W. Fire Truck, Inc. v. Emergency One, Inc., 134 P.3d 570, 577 (Colo. App. 2006);
• An order denying a motion for summary judgment, Feiger, Collison & Killmer v. Jones, 926 P.2d 1244, 1247 (Colo. 1996); cf. Libertarian Party of Colo. v. Williams, 2016 COA 5, ¶ 13 (finding denial of summary judgment is final when it disposes of the entire case), rev'd on other grounds, 2017 CO 86.
• An order staying

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