The California Appellate Law Podcast

Dec 17 2024 154 ep. 42 mins 14
The California Appellate Law Podcast artwork

An appellate law podcast for trial lawyers. Appellate specialists Jeff Lewis and Tim Kowal discuss timely trial tips and the latest cases and news coming from the California Court of Appeal and California Supreme Court.

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End the Bar Exam? with Jackie Gardina

Dec 17 2024 46 mins  
Jackie Gardina shares dispatches from the Blue Ribbon Commission on reforming the Bar Exam, covering recent reforms, the ongoing debate about the exam’s effectiveness, and the rise of alternative pathways to legal licensure. Some takeaways:💯 Yes, the passing score was dropped—but don’t worry, the old one was picked out of a hat (basically).🗯️“End the bar exam?! But

How the Cal. Appellate Project Promotes Appellate Experience and Access to Justice

Dec 04 2024 39 mins  
There is a 700-appellate case backlog in Los Angeles and only around 450 attorneys on the California Appellate Project—Los Angeles panel. CAP-LA attorneys Jennifer Hansen and Jennifer Peabody share how the rest of us can pitch in to assuage this gap in the administration of justice.Why work as a panel attorney?Get appellate experience.Work with an experienced appellate attorney.F

CALP w/ Chris Dralla, Creator of Typelaw, Revolutionizing Legal Writing

Nov 26 2024 40 mins  
Attorneys still wrestling with Microsoft Word to finish a brief need to be acquainted with Chris Dralla’s product Typelaw, the groundbreaking tool that lets attorneys turn plain text into fully formatted, cited, hyperlinked, local rule-compliant briefs.If your practice depends on producing high-quality briefs, here is why you need Typelaw in your life:Typelaw reduces non-billable

Reaction to Judge Jones and Prof. Vladeck's Exchange on Judge Shopping

Nov 19 2024 16 mins  
In this episode, Tim and Jeff dive into the recent heated exchange between Fifth Circuit Judge Edith Jones and Georgetown Professor Stephen Vladeck at the Federalist Society’s Lawyers National Lawyers Conference. The debate centered on the tension between judicial independence and the criticism of judge shopping in high-profile cases.Tim and Jeff analyze the arguments from both s

Why the Lack of an Record Is a Constitutional Problem, with Erin Smith (Part 2)

Nov 05 2024 41 mins  
Responding to a decades-long lack of court reporters, the Los Angeles Superior Court in September 2024 ordered that electronic recordings may be made. This arguably violates a statute prohibiting the use of electronic recordings. But Erin Smith, co-founder of the Family Violence Appellate Project, explains why the lack of meaningful access to an appellate record is a constitutional

Why the Lack of an Record Is a Constitutional Problem, with Erin Smith (Part 1)

Oct 29 2024 30 mins  
Erin Smith’s Family Violence Appellate Project has over 50 published cases under its belt—which is even more impressive considering how difficult it is to get a good record in these cases. In this first part of our conversation, we discuss the FVAP’s work, and the kind of mistakes trial judges make in domestic violence cases.Erin Smith’s biography and LinkedIn profile.Appel

A Glimpse into ClioCon

Oct 09 2024 27 mins  
Couldn’t make this year’s ClioCon? Don’t know why you would if you could? Jeff is on location in Austin, Texas, and reports in on the latest legal tech trends, like:The death of the billable hour? A review of attorney tasks suggests 70% could be done with AI. This could mean more shops switch to flat fees. It could mean they increase their hourly rates. But if you’re not ev

The Write Stuff, with Michelle Strowhiro

Oct 02 2024 36 mins  
In a (non)definitive survey of writing instruments, big-law attorney turned solo employer counsel Michelle Strowhiro reveals her pick for the best pen for lawyers.Then we turn to the U.S. District Court of Texas ruling in Ryan LLC v. FTC, blocking an FTC rule that would ban non-competes. This rule would eliminate trade restraints already banned in California. What comes next?Michel

Supreme Court Reinstates $2.5M Discovery Sanction

Sep 24 2024 18 mins  
The Supreme Court of California isn’t always interested in money disputes, but throw attorney misconduct into the mix and you get the City of LA v. Pricewaterhousecoopers reinstating a sanction for “egregious” city attorney’s office collusion totaling $2.5 million.Angling for contractual attorneys’ fees in your defense? The recent Am. Bldg. Innovation v. Balfour Beatty Co

Electronic recordings? Not so fast.

Sep 19 2024 30 mins  
Los Angeles Superior Court will now offer electronic recordings where a court reporter is not available. But not all courts have the equipment. And even if they do, by statute these recordings may not be used to create an appellate record. So what does it mean?Also, the Supreme Court in Meinhardt v. City of Sunnyvale has confirmed that orders granting writs of mandamus are not appe