Court of Appeals grants WLG’s motion to dismiss appeal for lack of jurisdiction:

In an unusually lengthy written order, the Oregon Appellate Commissioner granted WLG’s motion to dismiss an appeal filed against WLG client John Williams. WLG successfully represented Mr. Williams in the matter of Williams v. Riggs, Case No. 16CV01310, and the trial court awarded fees to Mr. Williams. Defendants appealed the fee award, but failed to join Mr. Williams’ co-plaintiff as a party to the appeal. WLG moved to dismiss the appeal, COA Case No. A166328, for lack of jurisdiction and lack of justiciability.

In granting the motion to dismiss, the Appellate Commissioner agreed that, because the defendants failed to join both plaintiffs in the appeal, any decision on appeal wouldn’t affect the enforceability of the trial court judgment. That is, even if the trial court judgment was reversed as to Mr. Williams, the judgment would still stand as to his co-plaintiff, making any appellate review meaningless. The end result was complete dismissal of the appeal against Mr. Williams.

This case demonstrates the importance of following all jurisdictional and procedural requirements both in the trial court and on appeal. Cases can be won or lost on jurisdictional issues.