Wednesday, February 6, 2013

DJ appellate articles: anti-SLAPP & Estoppel

Today's DJ has an appellate article by GMSR's Alana Rotter titled "9th Circuit Clarifies Anti-SLAPP Motion Appeal Rules," which briefly sketches the history of the appealability of anti-SLAPP rulings in federal court. In particular, there was concern that the Supreme Court's opinion in Mohawk Industries might undermine the collateral order justification for appealability in federal court. Fortunately, the Ninth Circuit rejected that argument. Why fortunate? Because we appellate lawyers need all the appealable orders we can get!

Yesterday's DJ had an article from BBK's Michael Mullins titled "Art of the Appeal: An Appellate Court's Factual Findings and Estoppel." The title explains the topic.
The article happens to cite one of my favorite cases, Nwosu v. Uba (2004) 122 Cal.App.4th 1229. Yes, I like the name -- very Heart of Darkness sounding -- but I also like it because it contains many pearls of appellate practice (and notes that even pro pers must follow them), such as:
1 -- All appellate briefs must support any reference to a matter in the record by a citation to the record.
2 -- An appellant's opening brief must provide a summary of the significant facts limited to matters in the record.
3 -- Statements of fact mustn't be "one-sided." An attack on the evidence without a fair statement of the evidence is entitled to no consideration when it is apparent that a substantial amount of evidence was received on behalf of the respondent. Appellants who challenge a decision based on the absence of substantial evidence to support it are required to set forth in their brief all the material evidence on the point and not merely their own evidence. Unless this is done the error is deemed waived.
4 -- "The appellate court is not required to search the record on its own seeking error." If a party fails to support an argument with the necessary citations to the record, the argument will be deemed to have been waived.

And to see these principles in action, look no further than this ditty, issued today: