California Appellate Report

Proof that San Diego isn't a paradise for everyone : "The petition, as subsequently amended, alleged Kelly had a mental illness,...

Both sides have decent arguments in this bankruptcy case.   But I think that Judge Hurwitz has the better position, and that the panel accor...

This Ninth Circuit opinion is certainly timely . Chief Judge Kozinski calls the crew of the Sea Shepherd -- an anti-whaling ship featured...

Want to see how to write a persuasive -- and important -- opinion in five double-spaced pages? Here you go . It's really a masterful...

At first I thought that maybe style was getting in the way of substance in this opinion .  The writing is very chunky (i.e., does not flow v...

The Supreme Court says that Obamacare entails a "tax".  Which it surely does (at least in part).  By contrast, the decision by Los...

For a sense how scholarly publications used to play a role in the application and development of legal doctrine, check out this opinion . ...

Think back for a moment to those heady days during your first year of law school, when you learned all about res judicata.  It was almost ce...

Sometimes I think that prisoners are just messing with us.  And I use the term "messing" even though a different word more immedia...

I guess I knew at some level of generality that the airbag computers recorded your speed and braking and the like and could thus be used by ...

Jesus Aguayo says that he's in the "business" of acquiring homes by adverse possession. I'll let you read this case to ...

I'm glad that the Court of Appeal published this opinion .  If only to make clear that it's no defense to a malicious prosecution ac...

Maybe one reason why I like reading Justice Bedsworth's opinions so much is because they sometimes sound like something that I would wri...

Here's an opinion that addresses how you calculate interest on various post-judgment cost and fee awards.  It's rendered in 2013. ...

I can't necessarily see anything wrong with the legal analysis in this opinion .  The Compassionate Use Act does indeed permit people do...

It's an AEDPA state habeas case .  The defendant brutally beat his wife in front of his two teenage daughters, leaving her in a hospital...

Don't text while driving.  Especially when you've got a baggie of meth in the car . On the merits, the Court of Appeal gets this o...

Chief Judge Kozinski is very good at writing opinions that make other people look bad.  Here's the latest example. Though, to be hones...

When I read this opinion by Judge Farris (joined by Judge Bybee), it, seemed plausible.  Sure, I could see some potential problems with the...

Sometimes statutes require courts to decide "medical" issues.  Like this one.  What's a "coma"? The Court of Appea...