Did you know that California appellate justices are elevated from the trial courts more often than are federal appellate judges? Jeff Calkins, recently-retired senior research attorney with the Fourth District Court of Appeal (Santa Ana), tells Jeff Lewis and me on the California Appellate Law Podcast that this may be why our state appellate courts tend to be more deferential than is the 9th Circuit.
What do you think?
Attorney business coach Alay Yajnik was kind enough to invite me onto his podcast, the Lawyer Business Advantage, to discuss how an appellate attorney can help trial attorneys win and add value to the services they provide clients, telling clients appreciate hearing why the attorney cares about the case rather than just how much the attorney will cost, and then moving on to a discussion about publishing legal content.
Listen online at Alay Yajnik's podcast website, Lawyer Business Advantage, which also has a nice summary of the conversation.
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Just because I get this question a lot from clients and other trial attorneys, I put it to Jeff Calkins, recently-retired senior research attorney with the Fourth District Court of Appeal (Santa Ana), who sat down to talk with Jeff Lewis and me on the California Appellate Law Podcast. Does the court give any consideration to the number and length of extensions the parties request?
Answer: an emphatic No. Nope. Never. Not even a little.
Jeff Calkins, recently-retired senior research attorney with the Fourth District Court of Appeal (Santa Ana), talks to Jeff Lewis and me about the cultural differences among some of the districts. Do the research attorneys talk amongst themselves about the case they are working up? What about the justices? The answer may depend not only on policy but on the architecture of the courthouse: are all the justices and staff attorneys on the same floor, or scattered about?
Jeff Calkins, recently-retired senior research attorney with the Court of Appeal, talks to appellate attorneys Jeff Lewis and me about the inner workings of the writ panel at the court. While technically you may have 60 days to file your writ, Jeff explains why your writ is more likely to be denied if it is filed close to the deadline.
Jeff Calkins, recently-retired senior research attorney with the Court of Appeal, tells Jeff Lewis and me what it is like working at an appellate court ("like a monastery," in a good way). In this clip from the show, Jeff describes the court as "a think tank with consequences."
Jeff Calkins, a recently-retired senior research attorney with the Court of Appeal, talks with appellate attorneys Jeff Lewis and me about what it is like working at an appellate court ("like a monastery," in a good way), about how the writ panel works, cultural differences in the different district Courts of Appeal, and why the California appellate courts may tend to go easier on trial courts than federal appellate courts.
Jeff also shares his theory on why California appeals are not as much "fun" as federal appeals (hint: it has to do more with the legislatures than the judges), and disagrees with my proposal that Rule of Court 8.1115 be amended to allow parties to cite unpublished opinions.
Listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/gC2hWQJX
Get a weekly digest of these articles delivered to your inbox by subscribing here: https://lnkd.in/g23bc4Y.
Appellate attorney John Reeves offers his pithy summation of the difference between trial attorneys and appellate attorneys.
After discussing the significant increase of amicus briefs filed in the California Supreme Court (and other state high courts and federal courts,), appellate attorney John Reeves discusses with Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis on the California Appellate Law Podcast what kinds of arguments in an amicus brief appellate judges might be most interested to read. Legal arguments? Or policy arguments?
Policy groups are more prevalent in our court system than ever, filing amicus briefs in record numbers. In California, amicus briefs are filed in over 37% of Supreme Court cases.
Appellate attorney John Reeves tells Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis on the California Appellate Law Podcast that this is a good thing, ensuring court opinions are informed by a wide array of perspectives. Traditionally only constitutionally significant cases drew interest from policy groups, but now almost every type of case garners interest from these nonparties.
Amicus briefs filed in an appeal by nonparties can be influential in the outcome of a case, but appellate attorney John Reeves, who has authored a number of amicus briefs, tells Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis on the California Appellate Law Podcast that amicus briefs should not be saying the same things the parties have already said.
Offer a new perspective, or a policy argument, or even a "Brandeis brief" stocked with citations to social science papers. But whatever you do, do not be repetitive.
Judge Robert Bacharach of the 10th Circuit tells appellate attorneys Jeff Lewis and Tim Kowal that remote court proceedings using video technology may be a way to address an deficiency in access to justice in our judicial system.