The California Appellate Law Podcast

Being a victim of discrimination and harassment at the hands of an employer is hard enough, but what happens when your employer is a judge? On episode 39 of the California Appellate Law Podcast, Aliza Shatzman discusses her personal experience and why it was not only personally horrifying, but damaging to her career. Aliza also shares how the experience motivated her to create the first-of-its-kin...

H.L. Mencken had it that “democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” In two recent opinions, California courts gave the people what they voted for by enforcing two California voter initiatives: one that is tough on criminal defendants, and another that is favorable to criminal defendants. Enforcing the tough-on-crime Three Strikes law,...

The Co-Founder of Casetext, Pablo Arredondo, explains how legal technology that is available today will allow solos and small firms to compete against Big Law. Tim and Jeff talk with Pablo about: Why Artificial Intelligence—which didn’t work well for a long time—now makes it much, much easier to find the legal authority you’re looking for. The searches you are used to making is just “casual Friday...

When a cadre of appellate nerds began the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers (and Eating and Drinking Association) 50 years ago, the state appellate system was not functioning well. Ben Shatz joins Jeff Lewis and Tim Kowal to talk about the founding of CAAL, where appellate jurists and practitioners could speak frankly about the problems in the courts, and how to solve them. And following CAA...

Jeff and Tim discuss some surprising recent cases, including two cases where the courts allowed untimely appeals, and a case where the right to an appellate record via a settled statement — although guaranteed in the Rules of Court and duly requested by the appellant — was rejected without appellate recourse. And Jeff previews an anti-SLAPP motion brought by Sony Music that might be characterized...

High-profile and celebrity family law attorney Chris Melcher has represented some of the largest divorce cases in California, including multiple cases ending in published appellate decisions. Chris talks with Jeff and Tim about how celebrity-driven cases shape the law, such as the #FreeBritney movement against conservatorship abuse. Chris then talks about a way to bring more attention to non-celeb...

Drawing from his experience training federal judges and top law lawyers how to write more effectively, Ross Guberman shares some of his best writing tips with Jeff and Tim on episode 33 of the California Appellate Law Podcast at www. CALPodcast.com . Ross also gives a tour of his latest product, BriefCatch 3.0 (now available on Mac), a tool that scores legal briefs for engagement, readability, flo...

Certified appellate specialist and mediator John Derrick talks to Jeff and Tim about mediating cases on appeal. John explains that some appellate courts have mediation programs because of a mission to promote settlement. But the courts’ job is to decide cases. John discusses the conflict between these two roles, including a story about an appellate justice who regretted volunteering he wished the...

After Jeff quizzes Tim on a bit of appellate esoterica about the automatic 15-day default extension for appellate briefs, the co-hosts discuss whether appellate justices modulate their approaches to sympathetic cases. The conversation also covers recent cases involving: Defective notices of appeal. Can an action be dismissed pending appeal? A surprising recent case answered “No.” Related: Another...

In this special episode, Jeff interviews Tim about the best and worst things about appellate law. Tim shares his favorite war stories, shares his approach to legal writing, and talks about his favorite comedian. Then to business, Jeff and Tim discuss some recent cases. Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography , LinkedIn profile , and Twitter feed . Appellate Specialist Tim Kowal's biog...

David Greco heads up the appellate practice at the probate litigation firm RMO, LLP. David shares with co-hosts Jeff Lewis and Tim Kowal some of the unique features and challenges in probate appeals: 👉 Fact challenges in probate appeals are uniquely difficult to win. Probate trials are typically bench trials, and appellate courts very rarely overturn a judge’s factual findings. 👉 The “stay kille...

The authors of the famous CalAttorneysFees.com blog, Marc Alexander and Michael Hensley, join us to discuss tips, traps, and best practices on attorney fee motions. Some key takeaways: 💡 Give the judge a roadmap. Explain: (1) Why you get fees; (2) Why your motion is timely; (3) What is the appropriate lodestar rate; (4) Why is the amount reasonable? 💡 Don’t be greedy! Inflated fee requests can r...

When we covered some of the tips and pitfalls of family-law appeals on episode 6 of the California Appellate Law Podcast, it became one of our most popular episodes. So we invited Victoria Fuller, a certified appellate specialist focusing on family law, to join us for another installment. Walking practitioners through various procedural issues in family-law cases, Victoria discusses with co-hosts...

“I’m not a prophet,” Judge Lawrence VanDyke wrote in his controversial concurring opinion in McDougall v. County of Ventura . Second Amendment attorney Sean Brady disagrees. Joining appellate attorneys Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis, Sean says Judge VanDyke will be proven correct: the Ninth Circuit in the last several years has granted en banc review of every panel decision favorable to the Second Amend...

Reviewing some 9th Circuit and California appellate cases of note from early 2022, appellate specialists Jeff Lewis and Tim Kowal discuss these juicy issues: 💡 Can the 6th Amendment right to speedy trial be indefinitely postponed due to Covid? (Yes, if the defendant is not incarcerated, says the 9th Circuit in United States v. Olsen .) 💡 Can the statutory right to a timely conservatorship jury t...

Attorney and author Ryan McCarl joins Tim and Jeff to discuss his forthcoming book, Elegant Legal Writing , and his career through academia into private practice. Ryan tells Tim and Jeff the most common mistakes in attorneys’ briefs, which include legalese (why are you still using legalese?), and providing too little white space on the page — white space bucks up your reader to plod on. Ryan also...

Jeff and Tim round up some recent California appellate cases of note: Singman v. IMDB.com , bookmark this published opinion holding that legal propositions in a brief without a citation will be ignored. Center Street v. Superior Court involving a rare summary affirmance. Alexi & Ani LLC v. Warren , allowing an attorney sanctions appeal to proceed though the attorney was not listed on the notic...

Attorneys David Ettinger and Dean Bochner join hosts Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis to explain their proposal to amend California Rules of Court 8.1115, the rule that prohibits the citation to unpublished opinions. David and Dean note that, despite rule 8.1115 near-categorical ban, the courts in practice already condone such citations in some contexts, most notably petitions for review. David also discu...

In this timely episode, health care litigator Rick Jaffe joins appellate attorneys Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis to discuss the maelstrom of lawsuits challenging vaccine mandates in state and federal trial courts and appellate courts throughout the nation. Rick’s practice focuses on cutting-edge medical and legal issues across the country, and he is the author of Galileo’s Lawyer , a book telling the s...

Appellate attorney and Author Myron Moskovitz joins Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis to discuss appellate writing tips, the importance of the Appellant's Reply Brief and Moot Arguments and his books teaching appellate tips. Appellate Specialist Myron Moskovitz's biography . Appellate Specialist Jeff Lewis' biography , LinkedIn profile , and Twitter feed . Appellate Specialist Tim Kowal&apos...

Appellate attorney Anne Grignon joins Tim Kowal and Jeff Lewis to discuss her recent win in  Banc of California v. Superior Court, a writ petition from an order compelling arbitration. Anne discusses when and why to take a writ from nonappealable orders. The attorneys then turn to private judging generally, discussing Justice Segal's recent caution about the industry's potential overuse...

Frances Campbell of Campbell & Farahani, LLP  joins us for a discussion about her practice involving housing law, eviction defense, appeals and practicing in limited jurisdiction courts. She shares her views on the coming eviction tsunami (spoiler, she says it's a myth) , the term HateWrite and the font Cochin for brief writing. Appellate Specialist Frances Cambpell's firm website an...

Lee Goldberg joins us for a discussion about his perspective as outside general counsel. Lee shares decades of experience using litigators to solve business problems and offers advice for trial attorneys serving corporate clients. We talk about Lee’s recent video series on LinkedIn and his website CalLawyers.com , and what a general counsel looks for when hiring trial and appellate counsel. Some o...

Kelly Ernby of the Orange County District Attorney's office joins us for a discussion about the first remote argument in the California Supreme Court during covid and her appellate experience on behalf of the District Attorney's office. We discuss Abbott Laboratories v. Superior Court and the ability of a District Attorney to initiate litigation beyond the geographic boundaries of each c...

Jeff Calkins, a recently-retired senior research attorney with the Court of Appeal, talks with appellate attorneys Jeff Lewis and Tim Kowal 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...