And I mean obsession in a good way. I never thought I’d out-geeked on the subject of jurisdiction, and especially not on the subject of appellate jurisdiction, but I think Jones Day partner Mark Herrmann pulled it off today at his Drug & Device Law blog. In a long joint post there regarding when an appellate court may review an order remanding a case back to the state court from which it was removed, Herrmann and his blog partner Jim Beck of Dechert LLP not only chronicle the histor... Read Full Story

Here’s an article on my short list of must-reads: in Know Your Client: Maximizing Advocacy by Incorporating Client-Centered Principles into Legal Writing Rhetoric Practice, Rutgers-Camden law professor Jason Cohen advocates that lawyers look beyond the typical “write for your audience” mindset and incorporate the client’s values into their legal writing. From the abstract: Clinicians, however, have developed theories of client-centered lawyering which require that the ... Read Full Story

For an appellant whose mail slot looks like the one pictured, there was an important decision yesterday. The California Supreme Court reached a sensible decision in Silverbrand v. County of Los Angeles, case no. S143929 (Apr. 23, 2009), in which the court holds that a prisoner’s pro se notice of appeal in a civil case is timely filed upon deposit with prison authorities for mailing. This brings the rule for timely filing of an appeal by a pro se prisoner in a civil case in line with the... Read Full Story

Sometimes, a defendant manages to dodge service of summons quite skillfully.  A colleague of mine once resorted to serving a  defendant with summons at the defendant’s daughter’s wedding because the defendant had successfully dodged many prior service attempts. Now, an Australian court has authorized service of summons by notifying the defendant via Facebook (sidebar note at p. 10 of this PDF). And why not? If it hasn’t already happened here, it probably will eventually. Cal... Read Full Story

In a dissent from a Ninth Circuit denial of en banc review in Lopez-Rodriguez v. Holder, case no. 06-70868 (9th Cir. Aug. 7, 2008, r’hng en banc denied March 27, 2009), a case concerning the application of the exclusionary rule to civil deportation proceedings, Judge Bea authors an opinion that puts his view of the panel decision — specifically,the reasoning by which the panel reached its decision — rather bluntly.   In [INS v. Lopez-]Mendoza [, 468 U.S. 1032 (1984)], the Supreme Court ... Read Full Story

After hosting Justice Alito and Justice Scalia, Pepperdine recently hosted an event with Justice O’Connor. Read appellate attorney Ben Shatz’s account of the Justice O’Connor event at the Los Angeles County Bar Association blog, en banc, where you can also find his previous posts on the Justice Alito and  Justice Scalia events. Read Full Story

When I read Brescia v. Angelin, case no. B204003 (2d Dist. Mar. 17, 2009), I was reminded about how Saturday Night Live once ran one a commercial parody for a product with the advertising slogan “It’s a dessert topping! It’s a floor wax!  It’s two products in one!” How do I make that connection? Because when I was done reading the case, I thought, “It’s a dismissal after sustaining a demurrer! It’s a discovery ruling! It’s two rulings in... Read Full Story

I know the title of this post implies that you’re about to read some complaint about an illogical decision.  After all, I doubt there’s a litigator alive who hasn’t received an adverse ruling or verdict and thought, “What a load of B.S.!”  (By the way, if you ever do feel that way, it’s time to call me.)  And that’s the way I was going to write this post, until I looked at the substance of the decision and got hooked, as I usually do, by a jurisdictio... Read Full Story

I didn’t think we’d see them anytime soon.  I was very, very wrong. UPDATE:  So I got to thinking . .  . I’ve got 20 or 30 years left in my legal career.  Will I see a juror’s mental telepathy about a case raised as a ground for appeal?  I don’t know, but if mental telepathy is possible, it will sure change oral argument, especially how an advocate handles questions from the court. Read Full Story

Too late, you’ve missed it.  But if you want to read all about the “conversation” between Dean Kenneth Starr and Justice Antonin Scalia held at Pepperdine yesterday, check out the very detailed write-up of the event  by appellate attorney Ben Shatz at En Banc.  Consider Ben the Pepperdine bureau chief, as he also had a good write-up last August on Justice Samuel Alito’s appearance there. Read Full Story