A recent Supreme Court oral argument
Check out this link. Click on White (Robert E.) et al. v. Square, Inc., S249248 on the left side of the page. Square provides credit card services to businesses that want to accept Mastercard &...
View ArticleIt's All in the Timing
Timing is crucial in bluegrass music, tennis, and sex. Brief-writing? Same thing. Too Early I see many briefs that discuss things too early. For example, opening briefs include lengthy “Introductions”...
View ArticleA Different Box
The latest fad in the business world — especially hi-tech — is to encourage people to “think outside the box.” This works only if you first have some notion of what “the box” is. “The box” is the way...
View ArticleA Different Box - Part II
You’ve heard the term “comparative law.” What does it mean? Essentially, you take a body of law or procedure of one country (or tribe), lay it down next to that of another country, and explore the...
View ArticleA Different Box - Part III
Let’s think outside the box of American appellate procedure. Let’s consider the British box. We inherited our common law system from the Brits – both substance and procedure. This included appellate...
View ArticleCalifornia Supreme Court Merits Review
A few years ago, Boalt Hall Professor David Carillo hosted a marvelous conference on the California Supreme Court. More than 200 lawyers heard Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakuaye, Justices Goodwin Liu,...
View ArticlePreparing the Statement of Decision
Here is how a trial lawyer might set up the statement of decision to give her appellate lawyer the best chance of winning on appeal. The Request If you lose a bench trial, you are entitled to have the...
View ArticleSetting Up An Appeal - in the Trial Court
I’m a pretty good appellate attorney, but I’m not good enough to win an appeal with a lousy trial court record. And I’m stuck with what the trial lawyer gives me. I’m not allowed to add any evidence or...
View ArticleFiling the Notice of Appeal
In recent columns, I’ve discussed how trial lawyers might help appellate lawyers overturn defeats (or preserve victories) by doing certain things in the trial court — like setting up a good record for...
View ArticleSeeking Review by the California Supreme Court
The Problem If you lost in the Court of Appeal, you can then ask the California Supreme Court to hear your case, via a "petition for review". The Supreme Court denies over 95% of these petitions. And,...
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