Dismissing Claims To Hasten An Appeal
A trial court ruling that resolves some causes of action but not others is not immediately appealable. Parties sometimes try to hasten appellate review of a key ruling by dismissing the remaining, unadjudicated claims and asking the trial court enter a final judgment. But the
Don’t Dive In—Wade
Appellate justices are generalists. Last week on a single Court of Appeal calendar, I listened to arguments that debated whether the justices should: Require a retroactive increase in child support; Reverse a personal injury judgment for re-trial, due to the improper discharge of a juror;
Another Bite At The 170.6 Apple?
Most California litigators know Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6 gives each side one opportunity at the outset of a case to have the case reassigned to a different judge. But fewer know that section 170.6 also permits a peremptory challenge after some appellate reversals
A Holiday Poem
Hone your prose and keep it short As you approach appellate court Prune the verbiage, Pitch your story! Yacking earns you zero glory Hook ’em soon with why you win Own the high road, limit spin Lead with strength and deal with snags Inspire
Be Careful What You Agree To
Stipulations and other agreements can be an efficient and even helpful way to move a case along in the trial court. But be wary of being too agreeable: Under the invited error doctrine, a party that stipulates to a piece of evidence coming in or
Is This Appealable?
It’s time again for that high-stakes question: is this appealable? As longtime readers know, failure to timely notice an appeal means permanent and usually irreparable loss of the appeal right. So twice a year, I run through some examples to illustrate the many ways this
What Do You Want?
Every appellate brief urges the court to rule in the briefing party’s favor. But far fewer briefs say exactly how the court should do so, and why. That lack of specificity is a mistake. A party’s job on appeal is to make it as easy
Two Cliffs
Very few deadlines in civil practice are “jurisdictional,” i.e. if you miss it, the right is irretrievably lost. Many California lawyers know that the deadline to notice an appeal is one of them. It comes 60 days after service of a notice of entry of
Appealing Anti-Slapp Rulings in the Ninth Circuit
In the California state courts, every order granting or denying an anti-SLAPP motion is immediately appealable. But anti-SLAPP appealability is more of a minefield in the Ninth Circuit. There, an anti-SLAPP ruling is appealable only if it satisfies the requirements of the “collateral order doctrine”
An End to Automatic Depublication
Under current rules, the California Supreme Court’s decision to review a published appellate opinion automatically “depublishes” that opinion while review is pending — making it non-citable. This approach causes problems. It eliminates useful discussions of un-reviewed issues. And when the reviewable conflict among districts arises
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