Osterneck et al. v. Ernst & Whinney
Decided February 21, 1989. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 87-1201 · 489 U.S. 169 (1989) · Cited 775 times
Holding
Petitioners' motion for prejudgment interest constituted a Rule 59(e) motion and rendered ineffective under Rule 4(a)(4) their notice of appeal filed before a ruling on that motion.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 9–0.
Majority · 9
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Thompson v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 375 U.S. 384 (1964)
- White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security · 455 U.S. 445 (1982)
- Budinich v. Becton Dickinson & Co. · 486 U.S. 196 (1988)
- Buchanan v. Stanships, Inc. · 485 U.S. 265 (1988)
- Browder v. Director, Dept. of Corrections of Ill. · 434 U.S. 257 (1978)
- General Motors Corp. v. Devex Corp. · 461 U.S. 648 (1983)
- West Virginia v. United States · 479 U.S. 305 (1987)
- United States v. Hollywood Motor Car Co. · 458 U.S. 263 (1982)
- Blau v. Lehman · 368 U.S. 403 (1962)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Bowles v. Russell · 551 U.S. 205 (2007)
- Banister v. Davis · 590 U.S. 504 (2020)
- Missouri v. Jenkins Ex Rel. Agyei · 491 U.S. 274 (1989)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Anthony McLeod Kennedy’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).