FirsTier Mort. v. Investors Mort. Ins. Co

In FirsTier Mort. v. Investors Mort. Ins. Co., 498 U.S. 269, 272, 111 S. Ct. 648, 112 L. Ed. 2d 743 (1991), the Supreme Court explained that FRAP 4(a)(2) "permits a notice of appeal filed from certain nonfinal decisions to serve as an effective notice from a subsequently entered final judgment." 498 U.S. at 274. The Court stated, however, that a premature notice of appeal relates forward to the date of entry of a final "judgment" only when the ruling designated in the notice is a "decision" for purposes of the rule, id. at 274, n.4, and "only when a district court announces a decision that would be appealable if immediately followed by the entry of judgment," id. at 276.