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From the State Bar of California: We are excited to announce the launch of rebranded certified specialist brochures and new digital certified specialist seals. The new brochures offer clearer details on the benefits of working with a certified specialist and help promote awareness of the specialization program. Additionally, the new digital seals highlight your expertise and achievement in your specialty area, making it easy to showcase this recognition to the public that is easily displayed in your email signature line and websites. Legal Specialization Brochures: Print-on-Demand and Free of
Charge You
can download the digital brochures on the State Bar’s Digital Brochures webpage or order them
free-of-charge on the print on-demand portal. The new process
requires you to create an online account to login to place your order. Please
see the user guide below for more information. [Appellate brochure here.] |
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Digital Seals: Display Your Specialization on Your Website,
Email Taglines, and More Digital
seals are now available. You can download the seals in the following formats:
PNG (transparent background), JPG, PDF, and SVG (for scalability and
print). Below
is a user guide with step-by-step information about how to use the seals in
email signature lines and on websites. |
The California Academy of
Appellate Lawyers is pleased to announce that it has selected four new fellows
for its 2025-2026 Fellowship Program. Each year, the Fellowship Program allows up
to four lawyers who are budding appellate practitioners to enhance their skills
in the appellate arena through participation in Academy’s educational and
social programs.
This year’s fellows are:
·
Courtney L.C. Cefali of Cefali & Cefali in
San Juan Capistrano;
·
Cory D. Hernandez of Family Violence Appellate
Project in Oakland;
·
Omer Ali Khan, a sole practitioner in Sacramento;
and
·
Christopher G. Sanchez of the California
Department of Justice in Los Angeles.
Founded in 1972, the Academy is the
nation’s oldest lawyers’ organization of experienced appellate advocates dedicated
to appellate practice. Our members are California lawyers with substantial
appellate experience, who are elected to membership after rigorous scrutiny of
their reputation, character, and appellate advocacy skills. Academy members are
frequently counsel of record in the most complex and highest-impact cases
before the California Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal, and federal appellate
courts.
California Academy of Appellate Lawyers Announces New Officers and Two New Members
The California Academy of Appellate Lawyers is pleased to announce that it elected its officers for the 2025-2026 year and admitted two new members at its May 4, 2025 meeting: Neil Sawhney and Claudia Ribet.
Mr. Sawhney is the director of appellate advocacy at the ACLU of Northern California. He received his B.A. from Harvard College and his J.D. from Stanford Law School. After law school, he clerked for Marsha Berzon of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Goodwin Liu of the California Supreme Court. Ms. Ribet is Counsel at the Complex Appellate Litigation Group. She is a Certified Appellate Law Specialist and a Certified Family Law Specialist by the State Bar of California. Ms. Ribet received her B.A. with high honors from Oberlin College and her J.D. from Antioch Law School.
The new officers are: • Sean M. SeLegue of Arnold & Porter, San Francisco, President; • Benjamin G. Shatz of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, Los Angeles, Vice President; • Judith E. Posner of Benedon & Serlin, LLP, Woodland Hills, Treasurer; and • Nathaniel P. Garrett of Jones Day, San Francisco, Secretary.
Founded in 1972, the Academy is the nation’s oldest lawyers’ organization dedicated to appellate practice. Our members are California lawyers with substantial appellate experience, who are elected to membership after rigorous scrutiny of their reputation, character, and appellate advocacy skills. Academy members are frequently counsel of record in the most complex and highest-impact cases before the California Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal, and federal appellate courts.
California Academy of Appellate Lawyers Announces Two New Members
Founded in 1972, the Academy is the
nation’s oldest lawyers’ organization dedicated to appellate practice. Our
members are California lawyers with substantial appellate experience, who are
elected to membership after rigorous scrutiny of their reputation, character,
and appellate advocacy skills. Academy members are very frequently counsel of
record in the most complex and highest-impact cases before the California
Supreme Court, California Courts of Appeal, and federal appellate courts.
More information about the Academy appears on its website at www.CalAppellate.org.
Last night at the LACBA Appellate Courts Section holiday mixer, appellate lawyer Tyna Orren was presented with the Pamela E. Dunn Appellate Justice Award for her years of work running the Second District's pro bono clinic.
Tyna gave a powerful speech calling on the attendees to take
action in an imperfect world.
And see Law360's Covington Helps Take Calif. Court Reporter Shortage To Court (Supreme Court #S288176)
Today's DJ profiles LASC Judge Brock Hammond in Appellate work honed his thinking, writing skills, Judge Brock Hammond says
Appellate work gave Hammond a unique perspective on legal reasoning and decision-making. "I feel like the experience made me a much better attorney and really honed my thinking and writing," he said. It also deepened his appreciation for the judiciary.
OCBA's Appellate Section has presented its Sills Award for Appellate Excellence for 15 years, awarding it to 8 justices and 7 attorneys over the years. (David Sills, for whom the award is named, was 4/3's PJ for over 20 years).
Last night the award was presented to Justice Eileen Moore (on 4/3 since 2000)--an amazing and accomplished veteran and judge who has an abundance of "Rizz." The program also had an MCLE component with Dean Chemerinksy and retired 10th Cir. Judge/Professor McConnell presenting their somewhat divergent view on SCOTUS.
The fee hike will bring active lawyers’ 2025 bills to $598, or $553 if they opt out of a voluntary $45 charge to fund legal aid programs. Next year’s bills will rise by $22.60 to $205 for inactive lawyers, or $160 without the legal aid fee.
Bloomberg Law has California Bar Signs $8 Million Kaplan Licensing Exam Contract:
The California State Bar’s board signed an $8.25 million, five-year contract with Kaplan for the company to help develop a state-specific licensing exam to replace the national standardized test, the state bar said Tuesday. The agreement authorizes Kaplan to create multiple-choice, essays, and performance test questions
Dearest Gentle Readers,
Yes, tis I, Lady Whistledown, the notorious gossip pamphleteer from Netflix's Bridgerton series! Who would have expected that I would jump the pond and the centuries to turn from my usual beat pseudonymously covering the parties, affairs, and romances of the Regency Era London Society Ton to materialize in the New World's City of Our Lady Queen of the Angels on the Rio Porciuncula? Why no one, of course! But who could resist last night's *sold out* 2024 LACBA Installation & Awards Dinner at the Bonaventure? No, not I, when given the chance to swap my quill and ink for a cyber-broadsheet--I cannot abide the abominable terms "blog" or "blawg".
Though not a Bridgerton, Featherington, nor member of the British Royal Family was to be found, SoCal appellate royalty reigned supreme in a throng of nearly 600 of the local bench and bar. To name-drop but a few, judicial brothers APJ Elwood Lui and PJ Arthur Gilbert delighted the pre-program crowd, which included appellate luminaries Rex Heinke, David Ettinger (of At the Lectern fame), countless LASC Judges, Justice Gregory Weingart, and retired Justices Candace Cooper, the divine Nora Manella, and Thomas Willhite Jr. Surely you sense the strong Division 4 presence? Naturally, because...
The evening's appellate takeover commenced with 2D4's Presiding Justice Brian Currey gracefully receiving the Outstanding Jurist Award. He spoke of civility, among other topics, and was supported in attendance by his chamber's Research Attorneys and fellow 2D4 Justices Collins and Mori. (Look to the left! A color daguerreotype! What marvels bless your digital age!)
Next, taking the stage by storm emerged the most Honorable retired Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, barely able to grasp the enormous and unwieldy Shattuck-Price Outstanding Lawyer Award trophy. (Whence does LACBA procure such shelf-busters? That may be the true mystery.) He spoke of some strange newfangled ideology which you Americans call 'democracy' and urged its upholding in trying times against insurrectionists.
Then came the centerpiece moment: PJ Lee Edmon swearing in appellate lawyer and CAAL member Sarvanez Bahar as LACBA's new President. Could there be a more appellatey moment? Dare you question whether "appellatey" is a word?! Rest assured it is--squiggly red lines beneath it be damned! And rest assured that LACBA is in sound and capable hands under Naz's leadership.
My nature does not allow me to end without news of the heart and intended alliances, so take heed that past-LACBA President (and appellate lawyer) Brad Pauley was joyously accompanied by his fiancée. We wish the lovely couple only the best and brightest future--filled with meaningful briefs, powerful oral arguments, and scintillating appellate MCLE.
Oh no! Queen Charlotte, ever on my tail, draws near me yet again! I must be off. Adeiu, Gentle Readers. Further your affiant sayeth naught.
The California Academy of Appellate Lawyers is pleased to announce that it has launched the inaugural year of its Fellowship Program. The program will allow up to four lawyers a year who are budding appellate practitioners to enhance their skills in the appellate arena through participation in Academy’s educational and social programs. This year’s fellows are:
·
Dominika Anna Campbell of Los Angeles Dependency
Lawyers in Los Angeles;
·
Shandyn H. Pierce of Hanson Bridgett in San
Francisco;
·
Jason Siu of Horvitz & Levy, LLP, in San
Francisco; and
·
Kian Tamaddoni of Benedon & Serlin, LLP, in Woodland
Hills.
The new officers are:
·
Joseph P. Mascovich of Schroeder Schaff &
Low, Rocklin, President;
·
Sean M. SeLegue of Arnold & Porter, San
Francisco, Vice President;
·
Benjamin G. Shatz of Manatt, Phelps &
Phillips, LLP, Los Angeles, as Treasurer; and
·
Judith E. Posner of Benedon & Serlin, LLP,
Woodland Hills, as Secretary.
Mr. Patashnik is a Deputy
Solicitor General in the California Department of Justice. He received his JD
from Stanford Law School. He clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy at the U.S.
Supreme Court and for Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals. Before joining the Department of Justice he was an associate at
Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.
LACBA has issued its 2022-2023 Annual Report, which contains short blurbs on all LACBA activities. On the appellate front, the Appellate Courts Section reports having 248 members and presented 7 online and 1 in-person event. The State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee reports that it vetted five candidates for the Court of Appeal. Also of the 29 officers and trustees, 3 in the 2022-23 term were past chairs of the Appellate Courts Section (the SVP, the immediate past-president, and a section trustee).
Richard Benes graduated from Yale University (B.A. 1969) and the University of Southern California (J.D. 1976), where he was Executive Editor of the law review. His 47-year career practicing appellate law in San Diego was launched by service as an extern law clerk for California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk and as a research and writs attorney for the Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District, Division One. After becoming a partner at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, Mr. Benes formed and practiced in his own small firm, Benes & Fiorello, A P.C., and then for many years as a sole practitioner. He was among the first attorneys certified as appellate specialists in 1996 and retired from practice in 2023.
California Academy of Appellate Lawyers Announces
New Officers and Two New Members
The California Academy of Appellate Lawyers is pleased to announce that at its May 6, 2023, meeting, it elected its officers for the 2023-2024 year and admitted as members Blithe S. Bock of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and John E. Stobart of Capstone Law APC. The new officers are:
·
Laurie J. Hepler of Greines, Martin, Stein &
Richland LLP, San Francisco, President;
·
Joseph P. Mascovich of Pacific Employment Law,
Inc., San Francisco, Vice President;
·
Sean M. SeLegue of Arnold & Porter, San
Francisco, Treasurer; and
·
Benjamin G. Shatz of Manatt, Phelps &
Phillips, LLP, Los Angeles, as Secretary.
Ms. Bock, a Certified Appellate Specialist, is an Assistant
City Attorney, representing the City of Los Angeles in a diverse range of
appeals from Section 1983 litigation and employment to housing issues. She
received her B.A. from the College of the University of Chicago and her J.D.
from UCLA School of Law. She was the Supervisor of the L.A. City Attorney Civil
Appeals Division from 2016 to 2022.
Mr. Stobart, a Certified Appellate Specialist and senior
counsel with Capstone Law, represents employees and consumers in complex
litigation, primarily wage-and-hour class actions and PAGA representative
actions. He graduated cum laude from Thomas Jefferson School of Law where he
was on the mock trial competition team and earned his undergraduate degree from
the Ohio State University.
Founded in 1972, the Academy is the nation’s oldest lawyers’
organization dedicated to appellate practice. Our members are California
lawyers with substantial appellate experience, who are elected to membership
after rigorous scrutiny of their reputation, character, and appellate advocacy
skills. Academy members are very frequently counsel of record in the most
complex and highest-impact cases before the California Supreme Court, the
California Court of Appeal, and federal appellate courts.
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