The majority opinion works two significant changes in California law, one procedural and one substantive. First, the opinion reverses summary judgment on the basis of an argument that was not raised in the trial court. The opinion reasons that the argument was not forfeited because an appellant can always challenge summary judgment on the ground that the moving party did not carry its initial burden—the appellant need not have presented that argument to the trial court in order to preserve it for appeal. That is a new rule of California appellate procedure.
In today's Recorder, Kelly Woodruff's On Appeals column is On Appeals: Appellate Courts Won’t Save You When You Rely on Inadmissible Evidence
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