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Quackenbush v. Allstate Insurance
Supreme Court of the United States (1996) | 135 L. Ed. 2d 1; 116 S. Ct. 1712; 517 U.S. 706; 1996 U.S. LEXIS 3609
TL;DR: A federal court remanded a damages lawsuit to state court based on the Burford abstention doctrine. The Supreme Court held that the remand order was appealable and that federal courts cannot use abstention to dismiss or remand common-law damages actions, only cases seeking equitable or discretionary relief.
Legal Significance: This case clarifies that abstention-based remand orders are immediately appealable final decisions. It also establishes a crucial limit on federal abstention doctrines, holding they do not authorize the dismissal or remand of actions at law for damages, which federal courts have a "virtually unflagging obligation" to hear.