"But he's standing right there in court!" does not trigger the time to appeal

Looking for a primer on the time to appeal? Look no further than today's published opinion in Marriage of Lin, which begins:

There are no unique jurisdictional time limits for appeals from domestic violence restraining orders. As with other appeals, there is a 60-day time limit for restraining orders which are properly served, either through a notice of entry of judgment, or through service by the clerk or party of a file-stamped copy of the order. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.104(a).) Otherwise, the outside 180-day filing limit applies.
Because the court record does not facially establish service of the domestic violence restraining order upon the restrained party, we apply the outside 180-day limit to his appeal. While the restrained party's personal presence in the courtroom at the time the restraining order was issued may make it easier to enforce the restraining order against him, it does not shorten the time limits for filing a notice of appeal.

[4/18/14 Update: Today's DJ has an article about Lin: Ruling provides guidance on notices of appeal, by GMSR's Alana Rotter.]

Also: Posttrial motions are tricky. How tricky? Try this one for size: Jarman v. HCR Manor. (Don't like the word "posttrial"? That's Yellowbook style, so learn to love it.)