At the Lectern

A while back, we wrote: “It is often said that the Supreme Court is not an error-correction court, meaning the court’s policy is to not use its discretionary review authority simply to fix a ...

https://www.atthelectern.com/rescue-missions-the-supreme-court-sometimes-is-an-error-correction-body/

As mentioned last month, former Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye recently said that her “biggest rule” about oral argument is “do not split time,” meaning don’t take advantage of the o...

https://www.atthelectern.com/dont-split-your-oral-argument-time-a-caveat/

Former Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye recently spoke at a bar association program. (See here.) Her wide-ranging talk included tips for Supreme Court practitioners. One of her primary points wa...

https://www.atthelectern.com/dont-split-your-oral-argument-time/

Former Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye recently spoke at a Contra Costa County Bar Association program called “Behind the Judicial Curtain and in the Robing Room.” Video of the event is her...

https://www.atthelectern.com/former-chief-justice-talks-about-inter-branch-tensions-gives-practice-tips-and-advocates-for-raising-state-bar-dues-at-bar-association-program/

We were recently asked to slightly revise the caption on a petition for review we filed in the Supreme Court. This led us to check in with the court’s Clerk/Executive Officer Jorge Navarrete on...

https://www.atthelectern.com/captioning-supreme-court-documents/

Court rules provide several limits on what the Supreme Court will consider in cases it has chosen to decide. However, those constraints don’t handcuff the court. They’re general limits that t...

https://www.atthelectern.com/the-necessity-or-not-of-preserving-issues-for-supreme-court-review/

Leah Spero — Director of the California Appellate Advocacy Program at the newly renamed UC Law San Francisco — has told us about moot courts available through the Program to help practitione...

https://www.atthelectern.com/uc-law-sf-offers-moot-courts-to-prepare-for-supreme-court-arguments/

A petition for review to the Supreme Court must start “with a concise, nonargumentative statement of the issues presented for review.” (Rule 8.504(b)(1).) Standard advice to practitioners is ...

https://www.atthelectern.com/the-delicate-balance-of-choosing-how-many-issues-to-raise-in-a-petition-for-review/

The Supreme Court yesterday issued an alternative writ. That doesn’t happen too often, but it wouldn’t be particularly newsworthy . . . except the alternative writ’s recipient is a Court of...

https://www.atthelectern.com/supreme-court-strongly-suggests-court-of-appeal-should-comply-with-stipulated-extension-rule/

Have you appealed from a superior court judgment or order and want to bypass the Court of Appeal and go straight to the Supreme Court? That’s possible. Possible, but not probable. In fact, quit...

https://www.atthelectern.com/the-supreme-court-can-transfer-to-itself-a-case-pending-in-the-court-of-appeal-but-the-power-is-mostly-theoretical/