Cite as: 511 U. S. 863 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
gerald, 457 U. S. 800 (1982)), we explained that requiring an official with a colorable immunity claim to defend a suit for damages would be "peculiarly disruptive of effective government," and would work the very "distraction . . . from . . . dut[y], inhibition of discretionary action, and deterrence of able people from public service" that qualified immunity was meant to avoid. See 472 U. S., at 526 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., 506 U. S. 139, 147 (1993) (State's Eleventh Amendment immunity from suit in federal court may be vindicated by immediate appeal under § 1291).
D
Digital puts this case on all fours with Mitchell. It maintains that it obtained dual rights under the settlement agreement with Desktop, not only a broad defense to liability but the "right not to stand trial," the latter being just like the qualified immunity held immediately appealable in Mitchell. As in Mitchell, that right must be enforceable on collateral order appeal, Digital asserts, or an adverse trial ruling will destroy it forever.
While Digital's argument may exert some pull on a narrow analysis, it does not hold up under the broad scrutiny to which all claims of immediate appealability under § 1291 must be subjected. To be sure, Abney and Mitchell are fairly cited for the proposition that orders denying certain immunities are strong candidates for prompt appeal under § 1291. But Digital's larger contention, that a party's ability to characterize a district court's decision as denying an irrep-arable "right not to stand trial" altogether is sufficient as well as necessary for a collateral order appeal, is neither an accurate distillation of our case law nor an appealing prospect for adding to it.
Even as they have recognized the need for immediate appeals under § 1291 to vindicate rights that would be "irretrievably lost," Richardson-Merrell, 472 U. S., at 431, if re-
871
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