Equitable mootness prevents an appellate court from reaching the merits of an appeal. It is a judicially created, prudential doctrine unique to bankruptcy appeals. Specifically, the doctrine applies to appeals from orders confirming chapter 11 reorganization plans (but the circuits are even split on that point).

The outcome of this circuit split will have large implications not only for the creditors filing these stale claims but also for the debtors.

If the Eleventh Circuit’s reasoning is followed, then not only will creditors miss out on an opportunity to be repaid, but the debtor will now have a civil cause of action against the holder the debt.

On the other hand, if the Fourth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits are followed, holders of time barred debt will be able to continue to assert claims and hope to receive payment. And if this riveting split wasn’t reason enough to follow this case, the Supreme Court just granted cert to Johnson v. Midland.

When a case litigated in court goes horribly wrong, there’s a clear remedy: appeal. But, what happens when your case goes not through court, but arbitration, and the proceedings are grossly unfair? You cannot appeal: that would seriously undermine the purposes of arbitration, to provide a fast resolution of a case at a cheaper cost than litigation. There is only one possible escape hatch: federal law provides that, in a limited set of very unfair situations, you can ask a court to vacate or modify the arbitrator’s award.

But if you bring this petition in federal court, another obstacle lurks in the background: the federal court’s subject-matter jurisdiction to even consider a petition to vacate. A new circuit split has popped up on that question.

Should it be easier to sue your doctor or lawyer in federal court than in state court? The Eleventh Circuit purportedly says “yes,” while the Third and Tenth Circuits disagree. This consequential Erie Doctrine circuit split has complicated malpractice actions in federal courts for decades, and even touches some anti-SLAPP laws.

Substantive or procedural? This age-old conceptual “split” lies at the heart of the Erie Doctrine, which we tackle here in our first post. The issue: when a state law imposes procedural requirements on litigants so as to advance a substantive policy goal, do those requirements apply in federal court? We have seen two circuit splits on this problem, so—befittingly—we have “split” our first post into two parts.