PFRs are hot

PFRs (Petitions For Review to the Cal Supreme Court) appear to be the hot article topic this week:

Yesterday's DJ featured Seeking (or Resisting) Supreme Court Review? A few tips for Convincing the California Supreme Court to Either Grant or Deny a Petition for Review. The tips for winning review include: know the odds, file on time, focus on why the issue is worthy of attention, remember the merits matter, consider rehearing or publication, and solicit amicus support. For opposing review, the tips include: file an answer, downplay significance and emphasize correctness, and consider other issues. This article was written by members of Sheppard Mullin's CAST (Certified Appellate Specialist Team). CAST is cute. So is SWAT (Strategy, Writs & Appeals Team) over at Manning & Kass.

Today's Law360 features Using Unpublished Opinions in Calif. High Court Petitions, by H&L's Jessica Di Palma, discussing the "unstated" exception involving PFRs to the rule about not citing to unpublished opinions, i.e., to show the state of the law and point to conflicts. The article suggests that the rule be amended to explicitly state that unpublished California opinions must be "cited or relied on as binding or persuasive authority" to thus emphasize the purpose behind the "no citation" rule. Heck, why not go further than that: If the rule's to be amended, why not say flat out that citing unpublished opinions is allowed in PFRs and writ petitions to demonstrate factually how the law is being applied and/or to demonstrate decisional conflicts?

Also of note, a Rutter program on legal writing and oral advocacy next month: Write It And Say It Right Strategies for Effective Written and Oral Advocacy Tuesday, April 26, 2016, 6:00 to 9:15 p.m. The L.A. Hotel Downtown, 333 S. Figueroa Street

Learning, mastering and revisiting the fundamentals of effective written and oral advocacy is indispensable to a successful litigation and civil trial practice. Yet, surprisingly, most lawyers spend little to no time after law school developing or refining these critical skills. In this new program specifically crafted for new practitioners and seasoned veterans, a California Supreme Court Justice [Carol Corrigan], a Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal [Lee Edmon], and an experienced trial attorney [Mike Stein] will present strategies and techniques you can easily implement that will immediately enhance the persuasiveness of your written and oral advocacy.

Details here.