No. 07-7099.United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.
Filed On: September 30, 2008.
BEFORE: Ginsburg, Tatel, and Griffith, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam
ORDER
Upon consideration of the motion to hold in abeyance; the motion to dismiss, and the opposition thereto; and the motion to remand, it is
ORDERED that the motion to dismiss be granted. Appellant seeks review of orders of the magistrate judge granting appellee David’s motion for attorney’s fees and denying appellant’s motion for reconsideration of the fee order. When appellant filed his notices of appeal, neither order had been reviewed by the district court. If the magistrate judge was authorized to dispose of the motion for attorney’s fees in an order pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(a), before seeking appellate review of that order, appellant was required to first file objections in the district court within 10 days. See Charter Oil Co. v. Am. Employers’ Ins. Co., 69 F.3d 1160, 1172-73 (D.C. Cir. 1995). Appellant’s failure to timely object to the magistrate judge’s fee order bars review of that ruling on appeal. See id. at 1172; Gov’t of Rwanda v. Johnson, 409 F.3d 368, 376
(D.C. Cir. 2005). Moreover, although appellant did file objections to the magistrate
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judge’s order denying reconsideration of the fee order, the district court had not ruled on those objections at the time the notice of appeal was filed.
If, on the other hand, the magistrate judge was limited to recommending a disposition under Rule 72(b), such recommendation would need to be reviewed and adopted by the district court before it is final for purposes of appeal. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). The district court has not adopted the magistrate judge’s ruling on the motion for attorney’s fees. Accordingly, regardless of whether the fee order should have been issued under Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(a) or 72(b), the court is without jurisdiction to review either of the magistrate judge’s orders. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that the motions to hold in abeyance and to remand be dismissed as moot. The court’s dismissal of this appeal removes any question of the district court’s authority to act on the matters pending before it.
Pursuant to D.C. Circuit Rule 36, this disposition will not be published. The Clerk is directed to issue forthwith to the district court a certified copy of this order in lieu of formal mandate.
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