Blog on Dispositive Motions

Most appeals aren't from full trials, they're from dispositive motions. Thus, appellate practitioners need to be intimately familiar with the ins and outs of such motions. Enter appellate lawyer Rebecca Lefler of Tucker Ellis and her blog Dispositively.com. Rebecca is a member of various appellate bar groups, including the LA County Bar Appellate Courts Section, where she has volunteered for the ACE program.


Here's what Rebecca has to say about her blog:

I’ve been working on a blog about dispositive motions at http://dispositively.com. It’s a blend of information I think may be useful for newer motion writers, along with things that I, as an attorney who handles appeals, hope motion writers think about when preparing motions.

I spend about half my time writing dispositive motions (motions for summary judgment, demurrers, motions for judgment on the pleadings, etc.), and the other half handling appeals. I have found that some of the details of dispositive motions can be confusing to those who don’t do these kinds of motions every day (they certainly confused me when I started out!). Also, some of the subtler issues—the kinds of things that get summary judgments overturned on appeal—are often not addressed in the practice guides. So I started jotting down my thoughts about the kinds of things that contribute to solid, well-supported motions, such as what makes a fact “material,” burdens of proof versus burdens of production, etc.

My hope for the website is to create a helpful reference site for anyone looking for information while preparing dispositive motions. I have started with motions for summary judgment, but I plan to discuss demurrers, motions for judgment on the pleadings, motions for nonsuit, etc. Right now it is California-based; I may expand to other jurisdictions at some point. Eventually I may compile the information on the site into a small published practice guide on dispositive motions.

So feel free to check it out at http://dispositively.com, and/or pass it on to anyone you think may find it of use. Thanks!