Stays, Bonding and Supersedeas in California: The Trial Court Just Ruled – Now What?
by Pablo Drobny, recently retired Lead Appellate Court Attorney from the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District
I. If the order or judgment is not appealable.
A. If you are the losing side, consider a traditional writ petition.
B. If you are winning side, remember an improper appeal does not stay enforcement of the order.
II. When the judgment or order is immediately appealable, before a notice of appeal is filed:
A. Review the statutes concerning stays and bonding on appeal to determine which provisions apply to your case.
i. If more than one applies, see CCP §917.6.
B. If you are the losing side, consider asking for a discretionary 10 day stay from the trial court (CCP §918).
C. If you are the losing side, and you are indigent, make a motion under CCP §995.240.
D. If you are the winning side, consider asking the trial court to require a bond or undertaking (CCP §917.9.) even where the statute doesn’t require it.
III. Where CCP §916 applies, is the judgment stayed?
(See URS Corp. v. Atkinson/Walsh Joint Venture (2017) 15 Cal. App. 5th 872.)
A. Filing of a notice of appeal does NOT stay a mandatory injunction.
B. Filing of a notice of appeal does NOT stay matters not embraced in the judgment or affected thereby.
IV. When to petition for a writ of supersedeas — CCP §923.
A. When a bond is required but you cannot post one.
i. Only if you first requested waiver in the trial court.
B. When respondent and the trial court refuse to acknowledge a statutory stay — automatic or otherwise.
C. When appellant wrongly insists there is an automatic stay.
D. When the trial court denied a motion for a discretionary bond.
Pablo has spoken at every one of our appellate and writ seminars held in Los Angeles, since 2007. He’s the best – and one of the best rated speakers of all time! You can find some of his programs here:
1st Annual Advanced Appellate Conference [Civil]
2nd Annual Appellate Conference
3rd Annual Advanced Conference
Demystifying Civil Appeals and Writs
Or you can just go to our audio page and search on “Appellate” as the keyword and California as the location.
