Blog Posts: Appellate

1. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE RECORD. The first question I’m typically asked by a prospective appellate client is “How can we tell the appellate court about all the emails from my ex-husband (credit card receipts, nasty texts) my lawyer refused to present, despite my pleas?” The answer is, we can’t. An appeal is based on the record presented t...

For writers of any legal briefs, there is hardly anything more frustrating than finally finding a case on point, in our jurisdiction, with a “correct” holding to support our argument, but unpublished.  More than 85% of the decisions in the 9th Circuit are unpublished.[i]   For the fiscal year 2017, in Division One of the Ar...

The amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure,effective December 1, 2016, arise, for the most part, out of changes in technology.Some of the amendments refine prior Rules that, while taking into account technology, were nevertheless skeptical of its efficacy and reliability. Service by Electronic Means For example, it is now acknowledged that service ...

This may not be a book my new grandson Felix will soon be reading, but it does raise a legitimate question:When you really, truly, believe a federal appeal is frivolous, and not just garden variety, I know you’re going to lose, please don’t make me spend my client’s money defending, but truly a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad appeal, can you...

Video Transcripton: Can you appeal a bankruptcy? You can appeal an order from bankruptcy court just like you can appeal an order from a civil court. There are certainly some important differences. The main difference is the very short time period for appeal. What can I appeal in a bankruptcy? The kinds of things that are appealed from a bankruptcy court will typic...

PHOENIX, Ariz. (Nov.6, 2014) -  Arizona business law firm Jaburg & Wilk's appellate attorney Kathi Sandweiss will be presenting at the State Bar of Arizona's annual 'Working with the Court of Appeals" (WCCA), a CLE taking place on Friday, November 14th at the Hotel Palomar in Phoenix, Arizona from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sandweiss is presenting the f...

How Might an Amicus Curiae Brief Assist my Organization and its Members? When you think about it, an amicus brief - "friend of the court" is a quite agreeable concept.  As a non-party to the case, with no direct interest in the outcome, you can explain to the court - as a friend, not a litigant - why its ultimate decision has larger ramifications.  Last March, 21...

An appeal is a request for a higher court to review a lower court's decision. An appeals lawyer handles cases on appeal when a party loses or is unhappy with some part of the decision made by the lower court. The appeals court reviews the record made in the trial court. Nothing new can be added to the record; this is not the time to add new facts or evidence. The a...