KBJ's writing style

ABA Journal has Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson draws attention with strong dissents and carefully chosen words

And the NYT has Opinion | Listen Up. Ketanji Brown Jackson Is Speaking to You. - The New York Times

And Law360 has 5 Things To Know As California Courts Decide On AI Rule - Law360

And see here for a pro per citing nonexistent cases to 4/3.

Caught copying!

Here's an unpub from 4/3 that address plagiarism in fn.4:

To say the least, the unattributed use of another attorney’s material is of concern to this court. It is a serious breach of ethics and a violation of rule 8.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which provides it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to “engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or reckless or intentional misrepresentation.” (Rules Prof. Conduct, rule 8.4(c), asterisk omitted; see also Lohan v. Perez (E.D.N.Y. 2013) 924 F.Supp.2d 447, 460 [“With respect to defendant’s allegations that the majority of the Opposition was plagiarized, plaintiff and her counsel do not deny these assertions. Indeed, defendant’s submissions to the Court evidence that almost the entire text of the Opposition is taken from unidentified, unattributed sources. [Citation.] Obviously, this type of conduct is unacceptable and, in the Court’s view, is sanctionable pursuant to its inherent powers”].) Because counsel readily took responsibility for the unattributed use of Ms. Gusdorff’s language and apologized for what he described as an inadvertent error, we elect not to impose sanctions. We strongly caution counsel, however, to ensure no further acts of plagiarism infect his briefing in this or any other court.

ACA-8 advances

Today's DJ has Plan to end retention elections for appellate justices advances -- Supporters say the change would modernize an outdated process where justices are almost never unseated, but critics warn it could erode voter oversight and eventually apply to superior court judges.

• A proposed constitutional amendment to allow California appellate justices to skip retention elections passed its first committee test on Wednesday. But a former law school dean who has spoken out against the measure said it could apply to superior court judges as well.
• "Since that procedure was created in 1934, justices have successfully been retained in more than 99.5% of retention elections," Pellerin said. "The three Supreme Court justices who were defeated in 1986 are the only time in the state's history that a justice was not successfully retained."

Asian Circuit Judges

Bloomberg Law has Trump’s Asian American Circuit Pick Reprises First Term Trend

• Eric Tung, Jones Day partner, slated for Ninth Circuit
• Trump appointed 7 Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders to circuit courts
• as Trump has sought out reliable conservatives for the appellate bench, he’s also increased Asian American representation. Of the 11 active circuit judges who self-identified as Asian American or Pacific Islander at the end of Trump’s first term, he appointed seven of the life-appointed jurists. [Ho, Thapar, Rao, Park, Bumatay, Lee]
• There are now 16 active Asian American or Pacific Islanders on the federal circuit courts

4/3's PJ KO retires

Presiding Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary to retire from the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three
Presiding Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three will retire after nearly 44 years of service.

SANTA ANA—Presiding Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three will retire on July 31, 2025, after serving nearly 44 years as a distinguished member of the California judiciary.

The mood is somber in the halls of 601 West Santa Ana Boulevard. Justice O’Leary’s steady leadership guided the court through extraordinary challenges, such as the implementation of e-filing and the management of the COVID-19 crisis. Justice O’Leary also integrated a new generation of Justices and staff after dozens of court mainstays preceded her into retirement in the past decade. Her indefatigable excellence in deciding cases and administration will be impossible to replace.

FYI, per Misc. Order 2025-02 (July 9, 2025), Justice Motoike is designated to serve as Acting Presiding Justice starting July 31, 2025. 

ACA-8 update

The MetNews: Judicial Elections Bill Slated for Hearing

• Coming up today for a hearing before the Assembly Elections Committee is a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing legislation that would keep the names of appellate court justices off the ballot unless a petition has been filed, with a sufficient number of signatures, contesting the retention of a particular member of a court of appeal or the Supreme Court.
• ACA-8, authored by Assembly member Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, would add this language to Art. VI, §16:
• “The Legislature may provide by statute that the name of a judge of the Supreme Court or a court of appeal who files a declaration of candidacy shall not appear on the ballot, and instead the judge shall be deemed elected, unless a petition requesting that the judges name appear on the ballot is filed by a requisite number of registered voters qualified to vote for the office.”

Now available: CLA's Lit Section Committee on Appellate Courts' Litigation Update: July 2025.

5th Dist. pro tem update

The following are currently sitting on assignment in the 5th District:

• Judge Gregory T. Fain of the Fresno County Superior Court will be sitting pro tempore until September 30, 2025.
• Judge Wayne Ellison (retired from Fresno County Superior Court) will be sitting pro tempore until September 7, 2025.

Seeking exotic appellate travel?

On behalf of Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton and the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference Planning Committee, I am pleased to invite you to register for the 78th Judicial Conference of the Sixth Circuit to be held in Memphis, Tennessee, September 3 - 5, 2025. The Conference will be held at The Peabody Hotel and an opening reception for all conferees will take place Tuesday evening at The Peabody beginning at 5:30 PM. The full program commences Wednesday, September 3 with plenary sessions, a luncheon and breakout sessions followed by the Life Member Reception at the Old Dominick Distillery. Thursday's program includes plenary and breakout sessions, a luncheon, off-site programs, and an evening reception and banquet at The Peabody. Friday offers morning plenary sessions. You may register for the Conference here: https://6thcircuit.swoogo.com/2025/begin?ref=Registration+Site

The Bluebook 22nd edition!

Major Changes in the 22nd Edition:

The 22nd edition of The Bluebook, released at the end of May, 2025, is the most substantial change to legal citation in at least a decade. While previous editions always attempted to keep up with practitioner and scholar practices of using online resources, the 22nd edition makes fundamental changes to citations in this area that better align with its underlying principle as stated in the introduction to "lead the reader directly to the specific items cited."

22nd Edition Information

• B5.3 now permits the use of the parenthetical “(citation modified)” to be used when a quotation has been stripped of internal quotation marks, brackets, ellipses, internal citations, and footnote reference numbers and capitalization has been modified without brackets.

Video is now posted of UC Irvine Law's 15th Annual Supreme Court Term in Review

AI oral arg / "fun" opinions

Law360 has:

Top Supreme Court Atty Touts AI Version Of Own Argument

You're not hallucinating — a tech-savvy U.S. Supreme Court advocate generated a near-facsimile of his voice, had an artificial intelligence chatbot use it to argue the same case he recently argued, and told Law360 on Tuesday that "many of its answers were as good or better than mine."

Approach The Bench: Judge Biery Has Fun Writing about W.D. Tex. Judge Fred Biery's "famous" "quirky written opinions":

The five-stanza poem about the disability insurance case was the first of many quirky opinions. Over decades, Judge Biery has leaned heavily on puns and has quoted songs and TV shows. He's used visual aids, including an illustration of the history of the earth to drive home the relative insignificance of litigation. His orders have again and again made headlines in the legal press.

And Adam Liptak has in the NYT: In Digital Era, Supreme Court Insists on Vast Piles of Paper -- The court’s rules require many litigants to submit 40 copies of their briefs, resulting in millions of pages printed each term. Critics call the process outdated and wasteful.

Citing Ending the Paper Chase at the U.S. Supreme Court

JA Opening in J.Feinberg's chambers

Job Announcement - Judicial Assistant to Appellate Justice
Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District JO# 6455
Judicial Assistant to Appellate Justice $6,471 - $7,867 per month

The Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, Sacramento, California, is accepting applications for a Judicial Assistant to Appellate Justice Aimee Feinberg. The level of appointment and starting salary will be commensurate with experience. Duties include a variety of complex and confidential paralegal, legal secretarial and office administrative duties for an appellate court justice. For a complete job announcement and application, go to http://www.courts.ca.gov/careers.htm, or call 916-653-8038. Applications are due no later than Monday, August 4, 2025, at 5 pm. EOE

Why are opinions depublished?

Today's DJ has PJ Gilbert's columns, plural, because there are two: First is a reprint of his first column from 1988 "It Never Happened," followed by "Grapes." These address the Supreme Court's depublication power, which is exercised by simple order without any elaboration. PJ Gilbert wants to know why opinion get depublished: As he puts it, "just tell us why -- we can take it." 

We have enough trouble figuring out what statutes mean and how to apply them to particular facts. I propose a new rule. If the Supreme Court depublishes a case, tell us why... all of us, the bar, litigants, and (gulp) the justices. The court rule tells us depublishing is not a criticism of the decision or any law stated in the opinion. So what gives? We live in an age of openness. If I went astray, I would like to know why. It would help me be a better justice. I can handle it... I guess. If my suggestion gains traction with our Supreme Court, I would appreciate scuttling such language as "in a remarkable lapse of judgment."

Above The Law has: Latham Loses Appellate Litigator To Biglaw Firm Actually Willing To Defend The Rule Of Law - Above the Law 

9th Cir. computers down

July 3, 2025 9th Circuit Announcement
Due to a nationwide technical issue on July 3, 2025, the Ninth Circuit’s case management systems are unavailable. This effects both CM/ECF and ACMS. The Administrative Office of the Courts is actively working on the issue. For all emergency filings needed to be docketed under Ninth Circuit Rule 27-3: litigants may email the PDF to EFilerHelp@ca9.uscourts.gov and the court will manually file the document. For all non-emergency filings: litigants should check back after 3pm PDT today. If the case management systems are still unavailable after 3pm PDT on July 3, 2025, the court will sua sponte extend the deadlines for filings due today under Fed. R. App. P. 26(a)(3).

SCOTUS term-end articles

Fourth Circuit Loses at Supreme Court With Every Ruling Reversed

Of the 62 cases the Supreme Court decided, including those not argued, eight came from the Fourth Circuit — the second highest number behind the 13 from the Fifth Circuit, according to data from Adam Feldman, author of the Legalytics newsletter on Substack. The Ninth Circuit has historically led in terms of volume, but the justices heard just seven cases from the California-based appellate court this term, dismissing three as improvidently granted and reversing four.

Votes Suggest Chief Justice Regains Control of ‘Roberts Court’

Chief Justice John Roberts was most often in the majority this term, dissenting in just two of the 58 argued cases that the US Supreme Court decided and leaving much of the writing to others.

The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term - Law360

Over the course of 60-plus arguments, the U.S. Supreme Court's justices collectively made more than 11,000 remarks containing nearly 350,000 words, and while the dialogue was earnest for the most part, there was periodic playfulness that often seemed especially amusing or welcome in the context of serious subject matter.

• Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review - Law360
• Circuit-By-Circuit Recap: Justices Send Message To Outliers - Law360
• The Sharpest Dissents From The Supreme Court Term - Law360
• The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court - Law360

Great Books on American History and the Supreme Court - The New York Times

And see 'Don't Be Dumb': Ga. Court of Appeals Sanction Gives Insight Into AI Usage Guidelines | Law.com 

5th DCA retirements

The Former Justices page for the 5th District now shows that Justices M. Bruce Smith and Charles S. Poochigian have retired this year.

9th Cir. nominee

 Law360 has Trump Announces 1st And 9th Circuit Nominees

• The nominees are Joshua D. Dunlap, a partner at Pierce Atwood, for the First Circuit and Eric Tung, a partner at Jones Day, for the Ninth Circuit.
• Tung has been at Jones Day since 2019, his LinkedIn states.
• He was previously a counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel in 2017 and assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California from 2016 to 2017.
• Tung clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch when the justice was on the high court and the 10th Circuit and also clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, his firm bio states.

The DJ has Trump nominates Jones Day partner Eric Tung to 9th Circuit -- If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace 9th Circuit Judge Sandra S. Ikuta on the appellate court.

President Trump Plans to Nominate Two Appellate Judges:

Tung and Dunlap will be Trump’s third and fourth appellate nominees since his return to the White House. His first nominee, Whitney Hermandorfer for the Sixth Circuit, advanced the Senate Judiciary Committee; and Emil Bove, his former personal attorney and current top Justice Department official, is awaiting a committee vote on his nomination to the Third Circuit.

Jones Day Partner, Former Scalia, Gorsuch Clerk Gets Trump Nod for 9th Circuit | Law.com

Elbows in dissent

Law360 has The Sharpest Dissents From The Supreme Court Term

This term's sharpest dissents often looked beyond perceived flaws in majority reasoning to raise existential concerns about the role of the justices and lament the future of the U.S. Supreme Court and the nation.
The justices accused one another of rewarding lawlessness, harming faith in the judiciary and threatening the entire project of democracy.

And see Paul Watford's The Quiet Power of Dissent: Why Judicial Diversity and Appellate Voices Matter — The Appellate Project

Feel like an appellate trip to the Windy City?

A friendly reminder that registration is nearing capacity for the 2025 Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference, which will take place from August 17 to 19 at the Swissotel Chicago. This year's program features United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, former United States Solicitors General Paul Clement and Elizabeth Prelogar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gilbert King, New York Times Supreme Court correspondent Adam Liptak, legal writing expert Ross Guberman, and more. Plenary sessions will focus on AI, litigating originalism, a Supreme Court and Seventh Circuit legal review, and ethics. We expect approximately 8 hours of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin CLE credit to be available. You can register for the conference by clicking this link: https://registration.crowdcomms.com/benchbarconference25/register. Interest in the conference has exceeded our expectations, and we are nearing registration capacity.

And see Bedsworth: The Importance of Family Law | Law.com 

End of Term stats

The Wall St. Journal has Justice Kagan Won 70% of the Time - Thomas and Alito had the majority in only 62% of non-unanimous cases.

Here’s a figure that might surprise: Justice Elena Kagan, the Supreme Court’s leading liberal, was in the majority of 70% of this term’s non-unanimous outcomes. To compare, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, stout conservatives, were each at 62%, tied with Justice Sonia Sotomayor. They were a tick above Justice Neil Gorsuch’s 61%.
That’s according to the end-of-term statistics compiled by the website SCOTUSblog.

And see: Former DOJ, Big Law Appellate Attorneys Join Anti-Trump Group Democracy Forward | Law.com & Progressive Legal Group Hires Top Appellate Lawyers (2)

And don't miss: SUPERIOR COURT OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF NEW, COMPLETELY REDESIGNED, USERCENTRIC WEBSITE

And: San Bernardino Superior Court Unveils Redesigned Website | Superior Court of California

Those craving some appealability decisions should see a couple unpubs today, here and here.

5th DCA pro tem update

The following judge is currently sitting on assignment with the 5th District:

• Judge Gregory T. Fain of the Fresno County Superior Court will be sitting pro tempore until September 30, 2025. 

2d DCA pro tem update & 9th Cir. proposed rules

The following are currently sitting on assignment in the 2d District:

• Judge Stephen Goorvitch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Two from July 15, 2025, until September 14, 2025 

• Judge Kimberly A. Gaab of the Fresno County Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Three until August 30, 2025 

• Judge Kira Klatchko of the Riverside County Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Three until August 4, 2025 

• Judge Emily Garcia Uhrig of the Los Angeles County Superior Court will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Four until July 19, 2025 

• Justice Laurence D. Rubin (Retired) of the Second District Court of Appeal will be sitting Pro Tem in Division Eight until August 31, 2025

Law.com has 7th Circuit Denies Bid to Transfer Case Against Ex-Judge Posner to Different Appeals Court

The Ninth Circuit seeks comments to proposed rule revisions, here: proposed-cr-revisions-public-comment-6-2025.pdf -- "These proposed minor, non-substantive revisions would clarify existing rules and align them with recent updates and court practices."

And from LACBA's outgoing president: Addressing the Indigent Appeals Crisis: Opportunities for Panel Attorneys

And see Interview with Associate Justice Goodwin H. Liu of The Supreme Court of California

Law.com has Former Justices on Top State Courts Reveal Why They Left the Bench | Law.com

Strafford/BARBRI will be presenting a webinar titled Deciding Whether to Recommend an Appeal | CLE Webinar | Strafford on July 29, with Janet Gusdorff and Randy Roach as speakers.

Possession-only judgment not appealable...

2/7 issues a published opinion on appealability in UD cases:

We transferred this case from the appellate division of the superior court to decide whether a tenant can appeal a judgment for possession in an unlawful detainer proceeding if the landlord has outstanding damages claims that have not been adjudicated. The answer is no. If the landlord’s complaint seeks damages, the possession-only judgment is not appealable because it does not resolve all rights of the parties.

CalMatters has California doesn’t have enough court reporters. Their unions are fighting substitutes