Earlier this month, , I presented my talk Winning on Appeal: Ten Essentials Every Trial Lawyer Must Know with Jeff Lewis at the California Lawyers Association Solo and Small Firms event. We shared insights based on our work as appellate specialists and addressed some of the most common mistakes that trial lawyers make that end...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: Using Google Maps while driving? That's illegal, says Court of Appeal, unless the phone is mounted to your dashboard. People v. Porter (Cal. Ct. App., June 3, 2025, No. H052404) Judges’ 90-day deadline...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: Teaching yoga is just like teaching Shakespeare, for First Amendment purposes. 9th Circuit strikes down San Diego’s beach yoga class ban. Hubbard v. City of San Diego (9th Cir., June 4, 2025, No....
The tip here is that even if your CCP 128.7 sanctions motion is righteous, the correct bases must be stated in the notice to give the other side fair warning. The grounds here weren’t stated until the reply, so the $25,000 sanction was reversed. And the motion was not only correct in Wright v. Wright...
Governor Newsom sued to enjoin President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to quell the ongoing LA riots without Newsom’s consent. But first, we disclose our biases—about Trump, opportunistic political labeling of “rebellions” or “insurrections,” and how easily the thin veneer of civilization is pierced by masked cowards throwing rocks. Also: Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis'...
The SLAPP fee award in Berry, v. Pope Valley Union Elementary School District et al. (Jun. 2, 2025, No. A171352) (non-pub. opn.) was based on hearsay. The the Court of Appeal still affirmed because hearsay is a rule of “evidence,” and a fee order need only be based on “information.” This is surprising because the...
The Court of International Trade—whatever that is—enjoined Trump’s tariffs. But the Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit imposed an administrative stay pending further briefing. We also cover: Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter feed. Appellate Specialist Tim Kowal's biography, LinkedIn profile, Twitter feed, and YouTube page. Sign up for Not To...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: The first case in the US, it appears, in which a defendant was sentenced to death for starting a wildland fire. People v. Oyler (Cal., May 5, 2025, No. S173784) You have probably...
The Supreme Court faulted the district judge in A.A.R.P. v. Trump for refusing to grant the Venezuelan alleged Tren de Aragua members’ injunction. But on remand, Judge Ho comes to the judge’s defense: after all, the judge only had 42 minutes’ notice. And to conclude that the judge had had some 14 hours, Judge Ho...
The latest entry to the split in the Court of Appeal over whether the Federal Arbitration Act preempts the California Arbitration Act’s harsh 30-day pay-or-waive deadline under Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.98 is Sanders v. Superior Ct. of Los Angeles Cnty., (D2d7 May 6, 2025, No. B340707), as modified (May 14, 2025). See prior...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: Supreme Court “rescue mission”? The high court is not a “court of error,” meaning the lower courts can really screw the pooch and yet review still will be denied unless the Court sees...
SCOTUS spent two and a half hours hearing oral argument on Friday in the birthright-citizenship cases consolidated in Trump v. CASA—not about birthright citizenship, but about whether district courts should be issuing nationwide injunctions. Many justices, and commentators on both sides, have criticized nationwide injunctions as a judicial incursion into executive policymaking in both Republican...
Trump’s executive order targeting Perkins Coie gets bench-slapped. Jeff recites the decision’s paean to the plight of lawyers. Tim wonders if Big Law was really hanging by such a slender thread. But on the law, neither is surprised by the result in Perkins Coie v. DOJ. Also this week: Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography, LinkedIn...
The trial court decided an anti-SLAPP motion without a hearing, but the Court of Appeal concluded in *Chang v. Brooks* (2D3d, Mar. 14, 2025, No. B320278) (nonpub. opn.) that, while it is error not to give litigants the due process of a hearing, that error was not reversible without a showing of prejudice. In this...
A civil litigant, hit with $200,000 sanctions for plotting the kidnapping and murder of the defendant, gets the sanctions reversed. Next week the California Supreme Court will hear oral argument on whether the state can mandate long-term care facility employees to use residents’ preferred pronouns. If this is consistent with the First Amendment, could conservative...
After the plaintiff kidnapped and conspired to murder the defendant in their business lawsuit *Razuki v. Malan* (D4d1 Mar. 20, 2025, No. D082560) (non-pub. opn.), the trial court imposed civil sanctions against the plaintiff of $200,000. But the Court of Appeal reversed. Kidnapping certainly is “bad faith” conduct under Code of Civil Procedure section 128.5,...
Apple said no jab, no job. The actor sued. The Court of Appeal holds the jab policy is expressive conduct, and thus the suit was a SLAPP. Apple Studios dropped an actor from its Manhunt miniseries over a COVID vaccine mandate. The actor sued. Apple filed an anti-SLAPP motion—and won. Jeff and Tim break down...
A $10M sexual harassment verdict was reversed in Odom v. Los Angeles Community College District (D2d8., Apr. 7, 2025, No. B327997) because the judge allowed the plaintiff to prove her case using improper “me-too” evidence. But don’t get the impression that a verdict is likely to get reversed just because of a bad evidentiary ruling....
In 2020 and 2021, public health professionals declared that large gatherings of unvaccinated and untested protesters were “vital to the national public health” to express the important issue of awareness of George Floyd’s death. A few months later, Apple, casting the role of Andrew Johnson for its series Manhunt, concluded that “masking, periodic testing, and...
Alan Dershowitz signed a complaint containing frivolous allegations in Kerri Lake v. Gates. But he’s only “of counsel” who reviewed one paragraph, containing nothing frivolous. So the panel reversed the Rule 11 sanctions—but warns that, going forward, “of counsel” is not a valid defense. Judge Bumatay writes separately to say it should be. Jeff agrees...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: Can an attorney sign as to only part of a pleading? Alan Dershowitz signed a complaint. The complaint contained frivolous allegations. But wait! Dershowitz says he was only “of counsel” and was only...
If you want to challenge a sanctions award over $5,000, you have to appeal now—if you wait, you lose. So when a discovery referee in Glickman v. Krolikowski (4D3d, Mar. 7, 2025, No. G064853) 2025 WL 732088 [pub. opn.] allocated most of the discovery costs to Krolikowski, he did the smart thing and appealed. After...
Judge VanDyke made a YouTube video to accompany his dissent in Duncan v. Bonta, the Second Amendment case in which a Ninth Circuit en banc panel upheld California’s ban on handgun magazines over 10 bullets. Judge VanDyke’s video shows him disassembling a gun, comparing accessories, and using a portion of oral argument to claim his...
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration not to deport five plaintiffs, alleged MS-13 and Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang members. The administration complied, but then the judge verbally ordered the administration to turn around a plane and return 261 non-party alleged gang members. The administration didn’t do so, and appealed. Meanwhile, the President tweeted...
Even if you technically can’t use an electronic recording to create the appellate record, trial courts do provide them for us in your closing argument PowerPoint. Jeff shares his experience. And after spending most of a morning watching oral arguments waiting for his case, Jeff offers these tips: The goal is to reduce "friction." If...
On demurrer, the plaintiff saw his main claim—though not the entire case—get gutted. So the plaintiff decided to dismiss the rest of his claims and appeal. After all, you can do that in this situation. But how you do it matters. A lot. The holding of Maniago v. Desert Cardiology Consultants' Medical Group, Inc. (Jan. 30,...
Here’s a trap door to avoid: if you are trying to expedite an appeal by dismissing remaining claims, do not use the Judicial Council dismissal form. Instead, you need a judge-signed dismissal. While Jeff is still in trial, Tim covers Maniago v. Desert Cardiology Consultants' Medical Group, Inc. (Jan. 30, 2025, No. D085025) 2025 WL 617972....
If you are forced to prove a key fact at trial after the other party refuses to to simply admit them in response to a request for admission, a California discovery statute entitles you to recover your attorneys’ fees. It doesn’t even matter if you aren’t the prevailing party: when a party should simply admit...
All eyes are on the electronic-recording original proceeding in the Supreme Court, Family Violence Appellate Panel v. Superior Court, and the Court’s recent order to show cause why, when a court reporter can’t be found, California’s trial courts should not be ordered to hit the “record” button. This could this be the most significant advancement...
The challenge to the electronic-recording ban, in a rare original writ petition in the California Supreme Court, will progress to the merits. The Court has invited the respondent Superior Courts of Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and San Diego to file a return in April 2025 showing cause why Court should not order them...
