The California Appellate Law Podcast

Apr 03 2025 167 ep. 41 mins 15

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.

Business News Education

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

Does “Of Counsel” have Rule 11 duties?

Apr 03 2025 29 mins

Alan Dershowitz signed a complaint containing frivolous allegations in Kerri Lake v. Gates. But he’s only “of counsel” who reviewed one paragraph, containing nothing frivolous. So the panel reversed the Rule 11 sanctions—but warns that, going forward, “of counsel” is not a valid defense. Judge Bumatay writes separately to say it should be. Jeff agrees with the majority,

CALP-March Cases & Tidbits: Judge Van Dyke’s video dissent

Mar 26 2025 27 mins

Judge VanDyke made a YouTube video to accompany his dissent in Duncan v. Bonta, the Second Amendment case in which a Ninth Circuit en banc panel upheld California’s ban on handgun magazines over 10 bullets. Judge VanDyke’s video shows him disassembling a gun, comparing accessories, and using a portion of oral argument to claim his point wasn’t being heard. The issue: If a mag

Did Trump Violate the Deportation Order?

Mar 19 2025 34 mins

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration not to deport five plaintiffs, alleged MS-13 and Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang members. The administration complied, but then the judge verbally ordered the administration to turn around a plane and return 261 non-party alleged gang members. The administration didn’t do so, and appealed. Meanwhile, the President tweeted that the j

Audio clips at trial & oral argument tips

Mar 12 2025 19 mins

Even if you technically can’t use an electronic recording to create the appellate record, trial courts do provide them for us in your closing argument PowerPoint. Jeff shares his experience. And after spending most of a morning watching oral arguments waiting for his case, Jeff offers these tips: It took 20 minutes of argument time just for the panel to get its head around who wa

Beware using the Judicial Council form dismissal

Mar 05 2025 11 mins

Here’s a trap door to avoid: if you are trying to expedite an appeal by dismissing remaining claims, do not use the Judicial Council dismissal form. Instead, you need a judge-signed dismissal. While Jeff is still in trial, Tim covers Maniago v. Desert Cardiology Consultants' Medical Group, Inc. (Jan. 30, 2025, No. D085025) 2025 WL 617972. The plaintiff dismissed his remaining cla

Is the electronic-recording ban unconstitutional?

Feb 26 2025 23 mins

All eyes are on the electronic-recording original proceeding in the Supreme Court, Family Violence Appellate Panel v. Superior Court, and the Court’s recent order to show cause why, when a court reporter can’t be found, California’s trial courts should not be ordered to hit the “record” button. This could this be the most significant advancement in electronic court record

ChatGPT Fails, Sanctions & Disbarments, Feb. 2025

Feb 18 2025 35 mins

Please AI responsibly: Attorneys at a major law firm are making use of ChatGPT. That's not a bad thing normally, but filling in legal cites is not what it's for. The unchecked ChatGPT cases were fake at a rate of 8 out of 9 total cases in a single brief. On this recent legal news episode Jeff and Tim cover: How to AI responsibly (and not get sanctioned).How to challenge arbitration

Is California’s 30-day pay-or-waive arbitration rule preempted by the FAA? The split widens

Feb 12 2025 15 mins

Your check for arbitration fees gets delayed in the mail. Under a particularly harsh pay-or-waive provision of the California Arbitration Act, if your fee is received on day 31, too bad—your arbitration rights go Poof! Or do they? There’s currently a big split among the appellate courts on this. Tim goes solo while Jeff is still in trial, covering several of the recent cases on

The court recorded my trial, so why can’t I use it on appeal?

Feb 04 2025 29 mins

The San Bernardino Superior Court electronically records trial. Can Jeff use the recording as the appellate record? Short answer: no. But there’s an original writ pending in the Supreme Court on a similar issue, so watch this space. We also cover: Jury Fee Hike, Paid by State Fund—but for how long?Shehi v. Chicago Title Insurance Co.—attorney disqualification is appealable, b

$340k Incivility Tax & Other Cases

Jan 29 2025 11 mins

Jeff is in trial, so take in a few quick summaries of recent cases and get back to billing: Incivility cost attorney $340,000 in fee reduction. Clip-n-save the recent controlling case on this point, Karton v. Ari Design & Construction, Inc.: "Excellent lawyers deserve higher fees, and excellent lawyers are civil.”Don’t let the trial court deny relief before you’ve asked f