In the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord case in 1980, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that orders denying disqualification of counsel in a proceeding before a federal court are not final decisions and therefore cannot be appealed immediately under section 1291 of the Judicial Code. The respondents, policyholders of an insurance company owned by Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, filed suit alleging violations of federal securities laws and other state law offenses after suffering financial losses when the insurance company became insolvent. They sought to disqualify their former attorney from representing Firestone based on conflict-of-interest grounds but were denied by District Court twice. The Court of Appeals reversed this decision which led to an appeal at the Supreme Court level where it was decided that such orders do not fall into a small class deemed as 'final' hence they are unappealable until final judgment is rendered.

The dissenting opinion in the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Risjord case argued that the majority's decision to deny immediate appeal of a disqualification order was misguided and could potentially lead to unnecessary delays and complications in future litigation. The dissent contended that such orders should be immediately appealable under 28 U.S.C §1291, as they conclusively determine an important issue separate from the merits of the action itself - namely, who may conduct it on behalf of a party. They further argued that delaying review until final judgment can result in wasted resources if subsequent proceedings are nullified by later reversal of improperly denied disqualifications, thus undermining judicial efficiency and fairness for all parties involved.