final judgment rule
final-judgment rule. The principle that a party may appeal only from a district court’s final decision that ends the litigation on the merits. • Under this rule, a party must raise all claims of error in a single appeal. 28 USCA § 1291. — Also termed final-decision rule; finality rule. Cf. FINALITY DOCTRINE ; INTERLOCUTORY APPEALS ACT. [Cases: Appeal and Error 66; Federal Courts 571. C.J.S. Appeal and Error § 81.]