Cal Supreme Court Video Argument

Today's Recorder has As California’s High Court Resumes Argument in Altered Format, Parties Adapt

With four judges appearing spaced out on the bench in the court’s San Francisco headquarters and three hearing arguments remotely, the court held its first session in the “social distancing” era.

• The chief justice and Associate Justices Carol Corrigan, Goodwin Liu and Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar all sat spaced out on the bench in the courtroom Tuesday, while Associate Justices Ming Chin, Leondra Kruger and Joshua Groban and all judges sitting pro tem for the session heard arguments remotely to conform with social distancing protocols.
•  Although the court allocated 15 seats for the media, the courtroom appeared mostly empty via the court’s live videostream. A large video screen was perched behind the dais where parties’ lawyers typically make their arguments to the court. During each argument, attorneys making appearances could be seen tiled across the screen in the manner of a multiparty video conference, with most remaining muted until their allotted argument time. Although there were some moments of cross talk and feedback—especially in moments when the chief justice chimed in with questions during the first argument of the morning session—the session went off largely without hitches given the obstacles.

And also in today's Recorder, On Appeals: Should you File an Appeal or Writ -- or Both?

If the case law is unclear as to whether a writ or appeal is the correct way to challenge an order your trial court has issued, the best way to protect yourself is to file both a notice of appeal and a writ petition. It is essential that counsel notify the Court of Appeal in writing of this double filing. Both the petition and its attendant points and authorities must provide the relevant authority to demonstrate the split and request that the court of appeal decide the appealability issue. Note that the opposing side is free to move the court to dismiss the appeal and deny the petition. Until it determines whether the challenged order is appealable, the court of appeal may consolidate the petition with the appeal, or it could simply hold the petition pending resolution of the appeal. If the appellate court decides that the order is appealable, it will proceed with the usual appeal protocols and decide the issues on their merits. It might then deny the petition in the appeal opinion or by separate order. If the appellate court determines that the order is not appealable, it will proceed with writ petition protocols and dismiss the appeal.