Williams v. Superior Court (Cal. Ct. App. - May 15, 2015)

You're a plaintiff's lawyer doing a wage and hour representative action against Marshalls.  You ask 'em for the contact information for all of their statewide employees, but Marshalls refuses.  You file a motion to compel, but the trial court denies it.  You file a writ with the Court of Appeal, claiming that this information is vital and discoverable.

To your surprise, the Court of Appeal doesn't respond with the usual postcard denial of your petition.

Instead, it agrees to hear your writ!  Victory!!

Not so fast.

It's true that many times, if the Court of Appeal's interested enough to hear your writ petition, they're interested enough to grant it.

But not always.

Here, the Court of Appeal decides to hear the writ, but denies it on the merits.  Agreeing with the trial court that the requested discovery is premature at this point.  And publishing the opinion to make its views known to other trial courts as well.

So remember:  When you avoid the dreaded postcard denial, that's a great sign.

But hardly conclusive.