Appellate tidbits in cases

When you see a section in an opinion titled something like "Some observations about....," you can bet it's from Justice Richman! Today's installment (from a decision on Friday) "Introduction, and Some Observations About [Appellant's] Brief." Uh oh... The section points out how the 35-page AOB by a pro per has a variety of flaws and includes things that are "most inappropriate." It then quotes from the Blue Bible about how an argument should be written. Although the briefing defects would suffice to strike the brief, the court goes on to address the merits anyway.

And in this unpub from 4/1 from last Thursday here, check out footnote 5, where the court reacts to the California Secretary of State citing to an unpublished decision:

We ignore the Secretary’s improper citation to a nonpublished decision to support this conclusion. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a)–(b).) The Secretary’s assertion that it is “not being cited as authority” but merely to support the Secretary’s “understanding that subrogation rights must be meaningful” is, putting it politely, too thin a slice.

LACBA's Appellate Courts Section has announced that for 2023-2025 (starting July 1), the Chair will be Julia Shear Kushner, Dan Barer will be Vice Chair, and Tom Watson will be Secretary-Treasurer.