First line contender

Here's how PJ Gilbert starts off this published opinion today:

It has been said the law is based on technicalities. But technicalities that ignore legislation, common sense, and fairness, the law abhors. 

RIP Larry Jay, 1947-2020

Very sad to report the passing last week of Larry Jay, a longtime LACBA Appellate Courts Committee/Section member and a wonderful colleague and volunteer. An online obit (which mentions CRF/LACBA's ACE program) is here, and here's a snippet:

He attended Harvard Law School graduating in 1970 at the age of 22. During law school, Larry spent a summer clerking for a judge at The Hague while considering a career in international law or politics. After graduation Larry took a clerkship with U.S. District Judge Harry Pregerson in Los Angeles. Larry was one of the proudest members of the “Pregerson alumni family” of distinguished attorneys who began their careers working with Judge Pregerson. After his clerkship Larry joined the Ball, Hunt, Hart, Brown and Baerwitz law firm where he practiced for several years, teaming up with Joe Ball, one of the top trial lawyers in California. Larry then worked for 23 years as an attorney at the California Second District Court of Appeal serving Justices Richard Schauer, Robert Mallano, Mario Fukuto and Candace Cooper, among others. During that time he also co-authored books on criminal appeals.

CEB annual appellate progam

CEB once again offers its annual 90-minute appellate MCLE program on-demand: Key Developments in California Appellate Practice 2019 featuring Justices Brian Hoffstadt and Dorothy Kim.

Robot brief writers coming soon?!

See Notable New Casetext Product Drafts Your Litigation Briefs For You

• In what Casetext cofounder and CEO Jake Heller calls a breakthrough that will have a profound impact on the practice of law, the legal research company is today launching Compose, a first-of-its-kind product that helps you create the first draft of a litigation brief in a fraction of the time it would normally take.
• Compose is not for writing appellate briefs. It is designed for writing litigation briefs in support of standard procedural motions, such as a motion to exclude expert testimony or a motion to compel discovery. It can be used only for the specific types of motions the product covers, which Casetext will be building out over time.

Electronic Transcripts?!

See Innovation in a Click (or Tap), about how the 5th District is spearheading a project to modernize
and expand access to justice for appeals:

With a new software platform called the Transcript Assembly Program (TAP), court clerks no longer need to compile paper transcripts—which can top tens of thousands of pages—in cases being appealed. The “magic click” creates a searchable, indexed PDF with bookmarks and hyperlinks and sends it electronically to the Supreme Court or appellate court reviewing the case.
The project, led by Fresno's Fifth District Court of Appeal, was one of 50 funded by the Judicial Council's Court Innovations Grant Program. More than 30 trial courts throughout California now use the software program, with more anticipated to come online this year. 

LA Times on the 9th Circuit

Saturday's LA Times had this front-page story: Trump has flipped the 9th Circuit — and some new judges are causing a ‘shock wave’ -- prompting stories about the story, like this one here.

Looking at appellate courts today

Law360 has How Trump's 10 Picks Have Already Shifted The 9th Circuit (cool interactive chart here) as well as Whiteout: 23 Top State Courts Have All-White Benches.

Today's DJ has Will Newsom appoint an LGBTQ Supreme Court Justice?
And also has columns by GMSR's Ellie Ruth and H&L's Josh McCaniel and Phillip Shaverdian.

2d DCA pro tem update

The following are currently sitting on assignment in the 2d District:

·  Judge Gregory J. Weingart of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division One until February 29, 2020

·  Presiding Justice Norman L. Epstein (Retired) of the Second District Court of Appeal, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division Three until March 31, 2020

·  Judge Kim Garlin Dunning (Retired) of the Orange County Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division Four until completion of all assigned matters.

·  Judge Timothy P. Dillon of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will be sitting Pro-Tem in Division Seven until April 30, 2020.

Reinhardt clerks urge reforms

More Than 70 former clerks to Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit release statement in support of former clerk who alleged sexual harassment and urge court reforms to prevent and address harassment.

{opening and closing paragraphs below}

• The signatories of this letter clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt during his 38 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. We believe that it is important for us to speak out in support of another former clerk regarding sexual harassment that she experienced while working for Judge Reinhardt. 
• Some of us experienced or witnessed conduct in chambers that we would call sexist, workplace bullying or mistreatment. Others did not. Most of us were as shocked as the rest of the world to learn of the clerk’s experience in Judge Reinhardt’s final year. All of us, whatever our personal experience, are united that no clerk should have to go through this kind of ordeal and that it is important to stand with those who speak out about it.

[Bloomberg Law article here. Law360 article here. LA Times article here. SF Chronicle article here.]

"Appellate Issues" now available

• The ABA's 2020 Winter Edition of Appellate Issues is now available here. Outstanding content as always.
• The Recorder presents a profile of CALG in California Appellate Law Group Brings Work-Life Balance to a Niche Practice

APJ Lui = Beacon of Justice

Get your tickets here.

How SCOTUS works (cert stage)

Don't miss the helpful Memorandum Concerning The Deadlines For Cert Stage Pleadings and the Scheduling of Cases for Conference (Feb. 2020).

This memorandum is intended to provide guidance to attorneys and litigants on the procedures for cert-stage briefs, waivers, and replies. It also addresses the practices and procedures for distribution of cert-stage filings to the Justices for consideration.

And don't miss Terri Keville's book review The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts, in this month's LA Lawyer magazine (42:11 L.A. Law. 29 (Feb. 2020)).

In other federal news, Judge Murguia resigns! (No, not 9th Circuit Judge Mary Murguia. It's Carlos Murguia (D.Kan.), her older brother, who was reprimanded for sexual harassment.)

Off to a bad start...

Here's a "smart" unpub'd decision from 4/1 that involves a pro per appellant and starts off like this:

An appeal is not a "do over," a "second chance," or "another bite at the apple." It is the appellant's opportunity to explain specific legal errors the appellant contends the trial court committed. To this end, there are rules and procedures that must be followed—by the parties and this appellate court—for the proper and orderly disposition of civil appeals. Where an appellant fails to follow the most basic requirements of appellate briefing, the respondent is prejudiced and the court is unable to reach the merits of the appeal.

And ends like this:

The judgment is affirmed. In the interests of justice, the parties shall bear their own costs on appeal. 

In other news, the Bar Exam Pass Rate Jumps to 80% Nationwide for First-Timers, with California up 10%. 

Missing baseball? Of course you are! So read this baseball opinion from 2/7.

Who gets Justice Chin's seat?

The Recorder presents California Lawmakers Press Newsom to Name First LGBTQ Justice

California’s appellate courts include four openly gay justices. Justices Therese Stewart and Jim Humes serve on the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco while Justice Marsha Slough was confirmed to the Fourth District appellate court in Riverside in 2016 and Justice Luis Lavin joined the Second District in 2015. 

Sixty-two judges and justices throughout the California bench identified themselves as LGBT, according to demographic statistics for 2018, the latest year available.

Liberal construction of NOAs

Today's Recorder's On Appeals column has Sarah Hofstadter's:

California Supreme Court’s Latest Guidance on How to Answer 'Who’s Appealing?'

In K.J. v. Los Angeles Unified School District, the court offered some clarification as to how far one can stretch the maxim that notices of appeal are to be liberally construed.

9th Cir. Appellate Advocacy Program

Save the date and join us for our upcoming free CLE program. Our expert panels will help you hone your federal appellate practice and advocacy skills in the Ninth Circuit.
When: April 1, 2020
Panelists: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judges and Senior Staff, and experienced local federal appellate practitioners.
Where: William K. Nakamura Courthouse, 1010 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, Fifth Floor, Courtroom 3 Time: Registration begins at 11:30 a.m.; Box lunch will be provided (please sign up for lunch in advance when registering); Program runs 1:00 to 4:30, Reception to follow
Topics: Overview of Ninth Circuit Appellate Process, Motions Practice, Mediation, Effective Briefing and Oral Argument.
RSVP: Please register at CLE_Seattle@ca9.uscourts.gov
● We will provide a live stream of the event on our website at www.ca9.uscourts.gov.
● Similar CLE programs have been offered in Boise, Billings, Spokane, Las Vegas, and San Diego. The agenda and other materials for these prior programs are posted on our website at https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.php?pk_id=0000000887
● This program is co-sponsored by the Ninth Circuit Attorney Admission Fund Committee and the Federal Bar Association of the Western District of Washington

CLA Lit Section's Feb. 2020 Litigation Update

Litigation Update for February 2020

The February 2020 issue of Litigation Update is now online, keeping you up to date on current case law. This issue includes the following case summaries and more:

• Motion for Relief Under Mandatory Provision of Section 473.
• Discovery Order in Federal Class Action Reversed.
• Summary Judgment Granted in Constructive Discharge Action.
• Sanctions Under Family Code § 271.
• No Stipulating When Someone Else’s Statute of Limitations Begins to Run.
• Insufficient Evidence to Defeat MSJ in Talc Case.
• Attorney Did Not Inform Client He Had No Professional Liability Insurance.
• Grant of Summary Judgment in FEHA Sexual Orientation Discrimination Case Reversed.
• Sexual Assaults on Campus.
• Public Records of Use of Force by Police.

And more! See the entire February 2020 Litigation Update!

Harassment allegations against Judge Reinhardt

Today's breaking news from The Recorder: Former Law Clerk Alleges Repeated Sexual Harassment by Late Judge Stephen Reinhardt The claims came during testimony at a House subcommittee hearing on sexual misconduct in the federal judiciary.

A former law clerk of the late Stephen Reinhardt on Thursday alleged the former judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit repeatedly harassed her as she worked for him in 2017 and 2018.

Testimony (18 pages) here. Video here.
Bloomberg Law's article here. See also on Law.com Stunning Reinhardt Sexual Harassment Allegations Prompt Talk of Next Steps on Judicial Misconduct. ABA Journal article here.

Law360 has White And Male: Federal Bench Still Struggling With Diversity

People of color made up approximately 40% of the U.S. population, but only 17% of sitting federal district court judges and 21% of sitting judges on federal circuit courts, the report found.
Meanwhile, women make up just over half of the U.S. population, and yet just 27% of district court judges and 26% of circuit court judges were female, it found.

SCOCAblog posts year in review

SCOCAblog has posted its SCOCA Year in Review 2019, analyzing the Supreme Court of California.

OverviewThe effect a majority of four justices appointed by Governor Jerry Brown might have on the California Supreme Court has been a major question in the past few years. After all, the last time four Brown appointees controlled the court it endured its most chaotic period in the last century. With the fourth Brown appointee (Justice Groban) having completed his first year on the court, we examined the court’s opinions from February 2015 to December 2019 for evidence that such times are upon us again. We found little support for a conclusion that another ultra-partisan-liberal Rose Bird era is dawning — in fact, the evidence so far is to the contrary.

We draw several conclusions:

• The lineup of four justices appointed by Governor Brown and three appointed by other governors has not divided the court. The court rarely decides cases by 4–3 votes in any period. And that rate is lowest in the Groban period.

• The court’s degree of consensus remained relatively stable across all three periods.

• Justices Liu and Chin are mirror-image opposites, so that Justice Chin’s upcoming retirement is potentially the largest factor in Justice Liu’s impact on the court going forward.

• The court’s opinion output trend remained relatively stable during its pro tem interregnum, in that it continued to decline.

CLA's Committee on Appellate Courts wants you!

CLA's Committee on Appellate Courts is accepting online applications here. For best results, apply before March 1.
And the Committee on Access to Justice and Civic Engagement is also accepting applications!

A good reason to head up to SF

BASF's Appellate Section is presenting Lunch with the Justices of the First District on March 4 at the Court of Appeal on McAllister Street:

This biennial luncheon facilitates discussion between the appellate bench and bar. During lunch, we will have prompted small-table discussions between lawyers and

jurists, who will then share the results of those discussions with the other small tables. The goal of the program is to learn what the Justices care about, while getting to know the Justices and developing a useful dialog between the bar and bench.

New hours at the 5th District

NOT working 9 to 5....

The Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, has changed its window and telephone hours to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.