A motion for reconsideration and an appeal can both follow an unfavorable court ruling, but they serve different purposes. Reconsideration asks the trial court to revisit an eligible order. An appeal asks a higher court to review an appealable judgment or order for legal error. The difference matters because the requirements and deadlines are not… Read more »
A writ of prohibition is a court order that stops a tribunal or officer from acting without or beyond its legal authority. It is an extraordinary remedy used when ordinary legal remedies are inadequate. Unlike corrective remedies, prohibition is preventive because it seeks to stop an unauthorized proceeding or action before it goes further. Unlike… Read more »
A trial court enters judgment. One party is unhappy with part of the result and decides to appeal. But the opposing party also believes another part of the judgment went wrong. Both sides now want the Court of Appeal to review different aspects of the same case. That situation can lead to a cross-appeal. A… Read more »
Losing in federal district court is not necessarily the end of a case. After an unfavorable ruling in a California federal district court, a party may have the right to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Whether an appeal is available depends on the type of ruling, the court’s jurisdiction,… Read more »
An appeal is not a second trial. A California Court of Appeal does not rehear the case or examine witnesses. It also does not consider facts outside the existing record. Instead, it reviews the record to determine whether legal error occurred. The record controls the arguments an appellant can raise. It also determines which evidence… Read more »
A trial court ruled against you. Now you are wondering whether that decision is final. In many cases, it is not. California law gives parties the right to appeal civil judgments. However, the appellate process follows strict rules, short deadlines, and detailed procedural requirements. An appeal asks a higher court to review a lower court’s… Read more »
When a court case ends and one side wants a higher court to take another look, the case moves into the world of appeals. That world has its own vocabulary, and the first two words you will run into are appellant and appellee. If you are trying to figure out the difference between appellant vs… Read more »
The EPA’s recently developed “Clean Power Plan” is causing quite a bit of controversy. In a nutshell, the Plan does two things. First, the Plan requires states to adopt their own clean power plans to meet EPA greenhouse emissions reduction goals. If a state fails to adopt an emissions reduction plan that the EPA will… Read more »
Do you remember high school? Do those memories include eating cookies from charity bake sales held by student groups, a candy bar from the vending machine while you were waiting for the bus, or (heaven forbid) a soda after football practice? Times have changed. Recent additions to the Code of Federal Regulations require that schools… Read more »
This term the US Supreme Court will have the opportunity to decide whether the state can force private home assistants to join a public employee union. Recently, the Court agreed to hear arguments from appeal lawyers in Harris v Quinn. That case challenges the constitutionality of an Illinois executive order that declared personal home assistants (i.e…. Read more »
