Coggeshall Development Corp. v. William J. Diamond, Etc.

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

This appeal could well have been avoided had the government directly raised the de fense of sovereign immunity before the district court. Nevertheless, because it goes to the jurisdiction of the court, the defense of sovereign immunity “can be raised at any time, and indeed by a court of appeals on its own motion.” Leonhard v. United States, 638 F.2d 599, 618 n. 27 (2d Cir.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 908, 101 S.Ct. 1975, 68 L.Ed.2d 295 (1981); see also Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 677-78, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 1362-63, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974); Hydrogen Technology Corp.…