Cite as: 516 U. S. 299 (1996)
Breyer, J., dissenting
advance the ultimate termination of the litigation"). This Court has frequently observed that the availability of § 1292(b) review counsels against expanding other judicial exceptions to the rule against piecemeal appeals. See, e. g., Swint v. Chambers County Comm'n, 514 U. S. 35, 45-47 (1995); Digital Equipment Corp., 511 U. S., at 883; Van Cauwenberghe v. Biard, 486 U. S., at 529-530; Richardson-Merrell Inc., 472 U. S., at 435; Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 449 U. S., at 378, n. 13; Coopers & Lybrand, supra, at 474- 475, and n. 27; see also Parkinson v. April Industries, Inc., 520 F. 2d 650, 658-660 (CA2 1975) (Friendly, J., concurring). We should be especially reluctant to identify new categories of "collateral orders" now that Congress has, by adding 28 U. S. C. § 2072(c) to the Rules Enabling Act, "designat[ed] . . . the rulemaking process as the way to define or refine when a district court ruling is 'final' and when an interlocutory order is appealable." Swint, supra, at 48.
IV
In sum, purpose, precedent, and practicality all argue for one interlocutory qualified immunity appeal per case and no more. I believe that the Court, following Mitchell, should simply hold that qualified immunity interests, while important enough to justify one interlocutory appeal, are not important enough to justify two. It is not necessary to argue about whether the defendant "waived" a second appeal, see Kaiter v. Boxford, 836 F. 2d 704, 708 (CA1 1988); nor, since the matter turns on "importance," not conclusiveness, need the Court decide just how the timing of an interlocutory appeal affects the "finality" of the trial court's denial of a motion to dismiss the complaint. See ante, at 307-308. Rather, a defendant asserting qualified immunity would remain free, as at present, to appeal from a denial of a motion to dismiss the complaint, or the defendant could wait, move for summary judgment, and appeal the motion's denial, but he could not do both—either because the interest asserted
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