Even if the client “earnestly believes” something to be true—and even if you, the attorney, “earnestly believe” it—without evidence, you can’t say it in court. Publishing its opinion in N.D. v. E.F. (D4d3 Jan. 20, 2026) case no. G066061 (nonpub. opn.) as a “cautionary tale,” attorney T. Matthew Phillips gets sanctioned $25,000 for violating this...
Prevail at arbitration? Make sure your arbitrator rules on your fees and costs, or they may be waived. And no, voluntarily paying a judgment does not automatically forfeit your appeal. Usually. Those two potential pitfalls arose in Garrett & Tully, P.C., v. Aliso Properties, LLC, et al., (D2d3, Dec. 9, 2025, No. B332463) (non-pub. opn.)....
You have to literally disobey an order in California to be held in contempt. But federal courts are a little more touchy-feely: they will find a contempt for violating the “spirit” of their orders. Tim and Jeff compare the Ninth Circuit's contempt finding against Apple in the *Epic Games* dispute, and a state litigant who...
California’s New Legal Rules for 2026: AI, Photo Proof of Service, and Simpler Statements of Decision New statutes and court rules taking effect in 2026 and 2027 will change how California lawyers serve papers, preserve appellate issues, and disclose their use of artificial intelligence. Appellate attorneys Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis focus on what actually...
AI-sanctions might get eyeballs, but the bigger sanctions are still for plain old bad lawyering. Jeff also raises this ethical and pragmatic question: who defends the lawyer when sanctions threaten the client? Should counsel facing an OSC retain separate counsel for the sanctions component to avoid divided attention and better protect client interests? What if...
A scandalous Netflix documentary called an unconventional sex-based therapy business an “orgasm cult,” all based on a sole source whose account has several flaws. But the Court of Appeal dismissed the defamation case on anti-SLAPP grounds. Tim and Jeff discuss whether any California defamation case against a media company could survive the one-two punch of...
Want to know why bad AI cites really bother the courts? Jeff and Tim discuss two recent fake-AI-cites cases imposing sanctions and State Bar referrals, and draw this conclusion: It’s not that AI is bad at law—in one of these cases, the court noted that none of the AI mistakes even went in the direction...
The California Supreme Court’s long-awaited "Taking Offense" decision on gender pronouns in elder care facilities introduces a new “captive audience” exception to the First Amendment. Tim worries this new judicial carve out may creep to other forums; Jeff is unperturbed. Tim also shares insights from the Federalist Society National Conference, before examining a significant appellate-fee...
Jimmy Azadian is often in the room when federal judges get together to share their personal concerns about the job. When judges are asked to come speak to a group, Jimmy reports that top of mind are the recent threats to judges and the courts—whether from armed vigilantes, protesters, students, or senators. Jimmy, Tim, and...
AI Reshapes Legal Practice: ClioCon 2025 Delivers a Wake-Up Call Jeff Lewis reports from the 2025 Clio Cloud Conference in Boston. Day 1 was encouraging, but Jeff reports feeling Day 2 as a “gut punch”: within about 5-10 years, many fundamentals of legal practice will be unrecognizable. Here are a few ways legal industry leaders...
Few lawyers and LRW instructors write and think more about AI than Professor Jane Woods of Mizzou Law, who offers this most important AI advice: If you haven’t read the case, don’t cite the case. Jeff thinks our business and even this podcast will be aped by robots by this time next year. Until then,...
As an attorney, you might not be surprised to learn that—if you file serial meritless lawsuits in pro per—you, too, may be deemed a vexatious litigant. File five unsuccessful lawsuits within seven years, and that’s what happens. But you might not realize that appeals count toward your five-lawsuit limit. That was the outcome in the...
The Law360 article on the Ninth Circuit’s en banc decision in Gopher Media LLC v. Melone features quotes California Appellate Law Podcast co-hosts Jeff Lewis and me on the significant shift in how anti-SLAPP motions are handled in federal courts, overturning more than two decades of Ninth Circuit precedent. The Ninth Circuit held that denials...
Just a couple years ago when we talked with Ernie Svenson, the attorney who talks tech fluently, AI was not even a thing. Now in late 2025, it’s the only thing. Ernie joins Tim and Jeff to discuss the rapidly evolving landscape of AI in legal practice, why AI gives small firms an advantage, and...
Anti-SLAPP denials are no longer immediately appealable in the Ninth Circuit. That was the en banc holding in Gopher Media LLC v. Melone (9th Cir., Oct. 9, 2025, No. 24-2626) 2025 WL 2858761, which overruled Batzel v. Smith. But still hotly debated in whether the Ninth Circuit will continue to entertain anti-SLAPP motions at all....
Teaching Judges: Appellate Expert Cherise Bacalski on Brief Writing and the Human Side of Law In this compelling episode, Tim Kowal interviews Cherise Bacalski, a Western United States appellate specialist and writing coach at NYU Law's New Appellate Judges Program, about her insights from both sides of the bench and how her background in rhetoric...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: Seeking Family Code 2020/2032 need-based fees? Don't forget to establish the incurred fees as reasonable. Fees reversed because they were for discovery motions not even ruled on yet. (But on remand expect the...
The AI “deepfake” videos offered in support of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in this Superior Court case goes way beyond the innocent AI “hallucinations” more commonly reported. Plaintiff in Mendones v. Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., (Cal. Super. Ct. Alameda Cnty. Sept. 9, 2025 No. 23CV028772) submitted two videos that the trial judge easily concluded...
Appealing in the 9th Circuit? Your deadline is 30 days. Don’t let Rule 58’s “separate document” extension lead you astray. Appellate specialists Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis also discuss ChatGPT 5 (a “market disruptor”), and sanctions strategies in federal court. And more practical insights on navigating procedural pitfalls, avoiding sanctions, and ethically incorporating AI tools...
Appealing in the 9th Circuit? Your deadline is 30 days. But sometimes the court makes certain rulings that are appealable but without a formal order—and that’s where FRCP 58 comes in, which says that those rulings are not deemed “entered,” and so the 30-day appeal deadline doesn’t yet run, until 150 days later. But in...
Failing to cite your secondary sources in briefs is poor form. But is it plagiarism? Jeff and Tim debate. And when the Supreme Court The publishes a case, should it explain itself? PJ Gilbert and Tim say yes, Supreme Court and Jeff disagree. Also in this episode: Tune in for AI ethics, briefing blunders, and...
The plaintiff's strategic decision to "not discuss" prong two of the anti-SLAPP analysis in hopes of supplemental briefing later proved fatal in *Ramirez v. McCormack* (D2d8, Aug. 8, 2025, No. B340986) reh'g denied (Aug. 19, 2025). Courts expect parties to present complete arguments in their initial briefs—don’t rely on getting a second chance. In a...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: RFA Fees: Unreasonably deny an RFA, get hit with attorneys fees…even if you otherwise are protected under a one-way fee statute. So if you are asked to admit you signed the document that...
Patrick Hagen is a man of the people—he still proudly uses Times New Roman! But he also has the ear of LinkedIn’s legal-writing elite, with over 36,000 followers as of August 2025. Patrick sits down with Jeff and Tim to share the source and method behind his viral legal-writing tips, how his judicial clerkships shaped...
Unlike any other state, California effectively deputizes employees to act as “Private Attorney Generals” to sue employers for PAGA claims—both for themselves, and for their co-workers. But since the individual claims can get compelled to arbitration, employees started to file claims only on behalf of the “body” of co-workers, asserting no claim on behalf of...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: Self-represented attorney CAN get fees awarded when co-litigant is spouse, but it's fact specific: there has to be a true professional relationship between spouses. If the attorney spouse was making all the decisions,...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: Not CA, but might restore your faith in the judiciary—via IJ: The Stored Communications Act allows the government to subpoena social-media companies for user data, and it even allows those subpoenas to be...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: Can ChatGPT testify against you? Maybe, says Open AI CEO Sam Altman: “If you go talk to ChatGPT about your most sensitive stuff and then there's a lawsuit, we could be required to...
Here are a few cases I did not have time to write up but seemed either important or irritating enough to mention: Elected officials aren't whistleblowers, Cal. Supreme Court says. “Employee” means rank-and-file public workers, not elected officials who “report to the electorate.” But: they can still bring First Amendment claims. Brown v. City of...
Summarizing the extraordinary events surrounding the 2020 election, the California State Bar Court’s review decision issued a decision in June 2025 recommending that President Trump’s election attorney, John Eastman, be disbarred. Tim and Jeff unpack. Jeff and Tim (nervously) debate the implications of the ruling. Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography, LinkedIn profile, and Twitter...
