5th Annual Advanced Appellate Seminar (Civil) (CA) (2020) (OnDemand Streaming or Recorded Packages)

What You Will Learn

Advanced 9th Circuit practice

• Motions practice and emergencies
• Mediation in the Ninth Circuit, it’s worth it!
• If you have a novel state law question, how do you get the Ninth Circuit to certify that question of law to the state’s highest court?
• Briefing your appeal, insider tips on how the court likes
• New authority letters (a/k/a 28j letters)
• The en banc process, how to get the attention of enough of the judges

Oral Argument

• Reasons to argue and when to waive
• Argument plans, argument notebooks and argument technology
• Moot courts: Who, why, when and how?
• Scouting the court
• Divide and conquer? When, if ever, should you split argument?
• Coping with hostile (and other) questions

Post-decision in the DCA  

• Rehearing
• Review
• Remittitur
• Publication & Depublication
• On remand from SCOCA
• Getting grant-and-hold cases remanded rather than having review dismissed – “Beware the quick release”

Preclusive effect of appellate decisions

• Law of the case
• Claim and issue preclusion

Settled Statements under the new Rules of Court

Looks matter: The graphic presentation of briefs

• How font, formatting, and graphics affect your readers
• Writing for e-readers
• Typography for Lawyers

Review of agency action

• Trial court 1085 writs
• Trial court 1094.5 writs
• Trial court common law writs
• Original jurisdiction in DCA (and SCOCA) on review of actions of administrative agencies
• Stays of agency action pending appellate review
• Interlocutory remands to agencies

Advanced Topics in Appellate Jurisdiction

• Kurwa I & II
• Standing of class action objectors
• Waivers of right to appeal in arbitration and other agreements
• Appeals in Public Records Act cases

• • Review generally by writ
  • Exceptions for post-judgment decisions (fees, e.g.)
  • Non-appealable preliminary decisions (privilege log)

Los Angeles Program Sponsored By:              

San Francisco Program Sponsored By:

Testimonials

“One of the best CLEs every year.” – Sarah Birmingham, Esq.

“If you only attend one live CLE a year, make sure it is the Pincus Advanced Appellate Seminar.” – Joshua R. Furman, Esq.

“Year-in, year-out, this is the best appellate MCLE seminar of them all.” – Tom Freeman, Esq.

“This program exceeded my expectations. The speakers were dynamic and brilliant, and the topics were incredibly helpful to my practice. I’ll be using this information for years to come… It was great!” – Tiffany J. Gates, Esq.

“Fantastic seminar. One of the best I’ve ever seen. Gary is a god.” – Kym Speer, Esq.

“This is always an excellent seminar! Great practical advice by the masters.” – Marisa Janine-Page, Esq.

“Surpassed my expectation. This was an excellent program.” – Bruce Finch, Esq.

“Excellent as always!” – Lori Sebransky, Esq.

“Well done as always. Nice selection of topics.” – Deborah Bull, Esq.

“I attended the seminar to learn about cutting-edge appellate issues. The seminar exceeded my expectations and I learned a ton. I greatly enjoyed the seminar and look forward to attending in the future.” – Kevin Meek, Esq.

“Beyond our expectations. Very useful to us. To Stephen Mayer – Wow. Thank you for waking up the right mindset and strategy. Justice Banke’s perspective was on target.” – Larry Peluso, Esq.

“I was aiming to gain insight on the appellate system and gain tips to assist my future endeavors in the court. I feel much more confident in my abilities! The handbook was very helpful and informative. I enjoyed the webinar format.” – Gina Simas, Esq.

“I hoped to have a good panel on oral argument, and another on agency appeals. These were great.” – Daniel Trump, Esq.

“Excellent.” – Ryan Artola, Esq.

“Justice Streeter is really interesting and provides great insight and information.” – Sarah Birmingham, Esq.

“Useful insights from an insider in the 9^th Circuit. Briefs session was hugely satisfying for my inner appellate nerd. I particularly enjoyed how Justice Banke compared what she used to think was important as a practitioner vs. what she now finds important as an appellate court justice. Very helpful! I greatly appreciated Justice Streeter’s openness and honesty. I’ve seen Justice Chin speak several times, and he never disappoints! Always a pleasure to watch.” – Tiffany J. Gates, Esq.

“Finally, I discovered an MCLE seminar that speaks my language! ‘My peeps.’ As an appellate practitioner of nearly 30 years, who does not specialize or concentrate in a particular substantive area, it is difficult to find an appellate MCLE that is not too basic for me. Now that I know about this annual advanced appellate seminar, I’ll be back for other ones.”

“Such useful information (on the 9^th Circuit). Thank you! Love all the anecdotal wisdom Wendy Lascher shares. Kent Richland had great practical experience and excellent tips. Thank you for including Justice Miller! So helpful to hear that side. Judge Klatchko is so smart and I love all the rules and guides she contributed to the presentation. Harry Chamberlain is always amazing! It’s impressive how Effie Cogan knows every detail of every appellate case. I love when she’s a panelist!” – Marisa Janine-Page, Esq.

“John Taylor did a wonderful job of explaining complex appellate issues to a non-appellate attorney, such as myself. I greatly enjoyed his presentation.” – Kevin Meek, Esq.

“Good program. Good job! Thanks.”

“Faith Pincus always puts on a great program. I like the recordings on CD. I listen to them in the car.”

“All the speakers were so engaging. Content was great.”

“Stephen Mayer was very engaging. Justice Chin gave invaluable insight. Very engaging.”

“Justice Miller was delightful. Justice Grimes and John Taylor were really effective. Judge Klatchko was an utterly delightful teacher.”

“Anna-Rose Mathieson was very helpful and interesting!”

“Justice Streeter was great! Watt and Chamberlain were very good.”

“I appreciated the opening discussion on federal (9^th Circuit) law and procedure.” – Justin R. Sarno, Esq.

“Wonderful program.”

“Justice Miller was delightful. Justice Grimes and John Taylor were really effective. Judge Klatchko was an utterly delightful teacher.”

“Great to hear about recent changes. Justice Miller had thoughtful comments. Justice Grimes’ perspective was helpful.”

“Very organized. Thank you!”

The following testimonials are from our previous Advanced Appellate Conferences:

“I attend lots of CLE courses – significantly more than required. This program was outstanding! Careful selection of topics and presenters. This was my first Pincus course. It will not be my last.” – Steven Finell, Esq.

“Year in, year out this is the best MCLE seminar for experienced appellate lawyers.” – Tom Freeman, Esq.

“This is an excellent program. I would recommend it. I found the panel to be very thoughtful and engaged with the purpose of educating the audience.” – Elizabeth Rhodes, Esq.

“Excellent, informative program. Presentations from judges were especially useful, and Ben Shatz is a very good moderator.” – Ryan Wu, Esq.

“Consistently the best live CLE I attend each year. Not to be missed! This isn’t just a refresher on the basics. This brings clarity to real challenges in appellate practice with the top experts in the field.” – Joshua Furman, Esq.

“Panelists were all terrific – one of the best MCLE classes I have taken!”

“While advanced, this was a great overview of appellate issues.” – Brian Mahler, Esq.

“Still one of the best CLE programs.” – Joshua R. Furman, Esq.

“Excellent seminar. It’s one of the best I have attended.” – Bob Lucas, Esq.

“Second year taking this course. Great information, speakers, and lots of ideas, tips and suggestions. Thanks, I’ll be back next year!” – John Stobart, Esq.

“Much better than the average MCLE courses. It was well thought out and well-presented. I look forward to taking more Pincus courses.” – Earl L. Roberts, Esq.

“It’s great to have presentations targeting experienced appellate lawyers.  Tremendously useful.” – Tom Freeman, Esq.

“It was an informative seminar, full of practical information. Excellent program.” – John Yasuda, Esq.

“Thank you. The program, panelists, and participants were excellent.” – Teresa Stinson, Esq.

“What I appreciate the most from these trainings is the multiple perspectives from various justices and practicing attorneys.” – Cynthia Vargas, Esq.

“This is a great advanced seminar. Very high-level, informative presentations.” – Tom Freeman, Esq.

“Having a ‘behind-the-scenes’ perspective on the appellate courts’ workings is very valuable. I handle 2-3 writs/appeals per month and this subject matter is useful. Very engaging speakers. The judicial perspective is highly informative.” – Sean Collins, Esq.

“Broader (and better) scope than expected. Another excellent program.” – Marisa Janine-Page, Esq.

“The topics were interesting and helpful to my practice.” – Jessica Simon, Esq.

“All presenters are great. There were a lot of good nuggets that I will use in my practice.” – Linda Conrad, Esq.

“The program was excellent.” – Tom Freeman, Esq.

“A very good panel of speakers with good diversity in topics.” – Robert Mata, Esq.

“Very useful, informative program. Every speaker was excellent!” – Kevin Meek, Esq.

“Great program.” – Sara Birmingham, Esq.

“Very satisfied with the program.” – Dennis Beaty, Esq.

“Justice Rivera was very good, detailed, and interesting. Harry Chamberlain was a very good speaker. This was a terrific panel!” – Steve Mayer, Esq.

“A fast-moving program – covered a lot of ground.”  – Lisa Ungerer, Esq.

“This was an excellent program. Speakers did a great job.” – Christopher Johns

“Very thorough. Well done.” – Eric Troff, Esq.

“The opportunity to speak with justices is very helpful.” – Deborah Bull, Esq.

“All great topics.” – Richard P. Fisher, Esq.

“Excellent speakers…Great handouts.” – Ira Salzman, Esq.

“Wonderful!” – Chris Lim, Esq.

“I’m glad I came and definitely glad I joined the networking lunch.” – Rochelle Wilcox, Esq.

“Learned some valuable things.”  Lawrence P. Hellman, Esq.

“Excellent content, expertly presented, excellent program! I’m trying to resume active appellate practice after years of preoccupation with family care issues – this program was a great start!” – Bruce Finch, Esq.

“I liked hearing from the judges – it’s always interesting to hear their points of view.”

“I love Pincus-produced lectures and seminars. Excellent appellate information, very thorough handouts and materials.”

“I am a practicing appellate attorney and I heard good things about this seminar. All the speakers were very knowledgeable and presented well and kept my interest – and the materials in the appendix were very useful.”

“Great use of knowledgeable and credible presenters. Truly an excellent program; well-thought out with valuable information.”

“I chose this program because I’m a previous attendee and have enjoyed it.”

“Excellent program!”

“As usual all of the speakers were excellent in both knowledge and presentation. I was also impressed with your staff. My secretary inadvertently signed me up for a recording rather than attending live. That was quickly and efficiently remedied. The location was great. Their staff was quick and efficient. It was a 0.6 walk from Union Station, which made it easy to get there by Metrolink and avoid traffic.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion during ethics, regarding plagiarism and ghost writing. I think it was the most interesting conversation all day.”

“Always fabulous!”

“Excellent and well put together seminar.”

“Program was excellent – good speakers.”

“Really great presenters.”

“Excellent, informative, enjoyable – all of the speakers did a great job.”

“Another great program – you never disappoint.”

“Very good materials.”

“I attended last year’s appellate conference. It was so helpful and informative that I wanted to attend this year’s conference.” – Linda N. Wisotsky, Esq.

“Excellent presentations.”

“Subject matter was great.”

“Excellent!”

“This program was great.”

“Really good, varied program.”

“Excellent program. I’ve just started appellate work and wanted to learn more. This program was quite good. Thank you!”

“As usual, addresses the ‘advanced’ issues facing appellate attorneys. And as always, knowledgeable presenters.”

“Great seminar!! So much great, practical information I can use.”

“I love the format and the pace!”

“This was an excellent program. All speakers did a great job!”

“Very practical and would definitely attend again and recommend to others.”

“Very current and useful information.”

“Organization and administration were excellent and very efficient.”

“Organization and administration of program was excellent – very efficient.”

“Greg Wolff was worth the price of admission on his own.”

“All of the speakers were great.”

“Good, vigorous discussion.”

“Great program and location. The lunch itself was great, as was the opportunity to network.”

“Great seminar.”

Faculty

Los Angeles Faculty:

Hon. Kira L. Klatchko
Judge and Certified Legal Specialist in Appellate Law
Superior Court of California, Riverside County

Judge Kira Klatchko was appointed to Riverside County Superior Court in 2016. She currently sits in Palm Springs in an unlimited civil department.

Before joining the bench, Judge Klatchko was a Civil Appellate Law Specialist, certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization and handled both state and federal appeals arising from all areas of civil practice for clients as varied as cities, businesses and families. Judge Klatchko was a partner at Lewis Brisbois, and served as was vice chair of the firm’s national Appellate Practice Litigation group. Prior to joining Lewis Brisbois, Judge Klatchko was a partner at Best Best & Krieger where she served as chair of the firm’s appellate group. She served for six years on the State Bar of California’s Standing Committee on Appellate Courts, including a term as its chair.

Judge Klatchko is co-author of the “California” chapter of the “Appellate Practice Compendium” (ABA 2012), an insider’s guide to appellate practice. She is co-contributing editor of “California Civil Appeals and Writs” (Matthew Bender 2014), a comprehensive two-volume practice guide for appellate counsel and general litigators. Judge Klatchko was repeatedly named to the list of Super Lawyers for Southern California in Appellate Law. She is a former president of the Riverside County Bar Association, and previously served five terms as chair of the Riverside County Bar Association Appellate Section. Judge Klatchko was also a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

Judge Klatchko has served as an adjunct professor at La Verne College of Law, teaching legal research and writing. She has also lectured on appellate ethics and practice at numerous conferences and seminars, including the California State Bar Annual Convention, the State and Local Legal Center Supreme Court Practice Seminar, and Pincus Professional Education’s Annual Advanced Appellate Conferences in Los Angeles.  

In 2014, Judge Klatchko was inducted into the Desert Bar Association Hall of Fame, as Outstanding Young Attorney of the year. In 2010, Judge Klatchko was recognized by the City of Palm Springs and Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce with the Athena International Award for Young Professional Leadership, recognizing her professional success and work in the community. 

Judge Klatchko received her bachelor’s degree in political science, with distinction, from the University of California, Berkeley. She earned her master’s degree in business administration from the Executive Management Program at the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. She earned her law degree at the University of California, Davis, School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of the U.C. Davis Journal of Juvenile Law & Policy.

Harry W.R. Chamberlain, Esq.
Shareholder, Certified Legal Specialist in Appellate Law
Buchalter

Harry Chamberlain is a Shareholder of Buchalter, an Am Law 150 firm, with eleven Western U.S. offices. For over 40 years, he has served as trial and appellate counsel for Fortune 500 companies, and a variety of public and private sector clients in complex litigation matters. He is certified as an Appellate Specialist by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, handling hundreds of appeals across the country, including numerous cases before the California Supreme Court and the highest courts of other states.                                                           

Before joining Buchalter, Harry was general counsel for California‐based professional liability insurers, and managed the law department of a national group of commercial insurance and financial service companies. He is past president of California Defense Counsel and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, preeminent associations of civil defense trial and appellate lawyers. He writes and lectures widely on topics regarding complex litigation, professional responsibility and insurance law.

Efrat M. Cogan, Esq.
Of Counsel
Buchalter

Efrat M. Cogan is certified as an Appellate Specialist by the California State Bar of Legal Specialization. As detailed below, she has handled appeals before a variety of courts and on a wide range of subjects, including land use, real estate disputes, probate matters, sports law, commercial law, products liability and employment law.

In addition to appellate work, Ms. Cogan’s practice involves litigation in various areas, including the following:  land use disputes, real estate litigation, including construction litigation, nuisance litigation, and easement litigation.  Having previously represented both municipalities and developers, she has experience in governmental and constitutional law.  She also has experience with commercial litigation, sports law, copyright litigation and class action litigation.

Ms. Cogan has written “Executive Nonacquiescence: Problems of Statutory Interpretation and Separation of Powers,” 60 Southern California Law Review 1143, 1987. She has contributed to the California Municipal Law Handbook, published by the California League of Cities, and has co-authored “The ‘Empire’ Strikes Back: Effective Use of the False Claims Act” (2005).  She has written articles for the Business Law News relating to unfair competition claims, and health law.

Ms. Cogan has been selected by Super Lawyer Magazine as one of Southern California’s Super Lawyers from 2004-2006 and 2008-2021 and was included in “Top 50 Women in Law” of Southern California. She was also recognized by Super Lawyer Magazine as a Southern California Super Lawyer, Corporate Counsel Edition from 2009 to 2010. Ms. Cogan currently serves on the California State Bar’s Advisory Commission.

Pablo Drobny, Esq.
Counsel
Complex Appellate Litigation Group, LLP

Pablo Drobny served as a lead appellate research and writs attorney for more than 36 years. Assigned to Division Seven of the California Court of Appeal’s Second District, Pablo analyzed thousands of appeals and writ petitions, in every conceivable area of law and at every stage of civil and criminal litigation.

He personally played a pivotal role in the development of writ practice in California appellate courts. Alone responsible for handling all writ petitions assigned to Division Seven for much of his career, Pablo gained a deep understanding of extraordinary writ relief and innovated creative procedural devices to streamline writ procedures in California appellate courts. One of those devices is now commonly known as the “suggestive Palma” practice, which was approved by the California Supreme Court and is currently utilized statewide as a method of granting expeditious writ relief to litigants. Pablo also routinely advised justices about complex appellate motions and orders, including motions to dismiss appeals, view sealed transcripts, take judicial notice, augment the appellate record, and file amicus briefs.

Pablo is also heavily involved in judicial education, and taught many California appellate justices the approaches they still use to decide cases. He has served on dozens of planning committees for the courts’ annual Judicial Attorney Institutes, chaired the statewide Appellate Judicial Attorneys Education Committee, developed broadcasts for judicial attorneys and non-attorney staff with the Center for Judiciary Education and Research, and regularly gave educational presentations to Supreme Court and Court of Appeal justices and their staff. Pablo is a frequent lecturer and panelist on the writ process and on other facets of civil and criminal appellate law and procedure. His presentations include programs at annual meetings of the California State Bar, the California Judges Association, the California Public Defenders Association, the Lawyers’ Club of Los Angeles, The Rutter Group, Pincus Professional Education, and other bar associations and Inns of Court statewide. He has been guest lecturer at Loyola Law School and annual lecturer for the law school extern program at the Second District.

Pablo received his J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School. Before commencing his career at the Court of Appeal, he practiced with Perkins Coie LLP and as corporate counsel for U.S. companies doing business in developing countries. He earned his B.A. with highest honors from Johns Hopkins University, where he captained the soccer team, was selected as an All-American, and was later admitted to the Johns Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame. He also received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, awarded to just 22 scholar-athletes nationwide.

Polly J. Estes, Esq.
Managing Partner
Estes Law Group

With 29 years of experience in state and federal courts, Polly has successfully tried numerous bench and jury trials in such diverse areas as class actions, freedom of speech and freedom of religion, securities fraud, tax regulation, riparian rights, eminent domain, professional liability, and high-dollar insurance bad faith.  But it is in the appellate arena where Polly really shines.  She has spent 15 years of her career working for state and federal appellate courts, where she helped judges evaluate the merits of more than 500 civil, criminal, and administrative appeals.  On a daily basis, Polly defended her analysis through oral presentations, extensive memoranda and proposed dispositions, often working under intense time pressure.  After debating the merits of cases with judges at all levels of the judiciary for more than two decades, Polly knows how to persuade both judges and juries successfully.  She knows how judges think, what questions they want answered, and the time constraints they face.  

Polly’s expertise has been recognized by the California State Bar.  She is Board Certified as an expert in Appellate Law.

Before starting Estes Law Group, Polly served as the Chief Law Clerk to the Honorable Carlos T. Bea on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for eight years.  As Judge Bea’s Chief Law Clerk, Polly supervised and trained the other law clerks and externs, a position she loved because it was essentially “teaching the best law school class ever.”  She was also the chief editor and “problem solver,” often called in to help the Judge and other clerks think through complex problems.  She also helped evaluate cases for en banc calls and wrote speeches for the judge, all while handling a full load of cases herself.

While at the Ninth Circuit, Polly participated in all aspects of the appellate process, including drafting bench and en banc memoranda, opinions, dissents, orders, and memorandum dispositions.  These cases spanned all areas of federal law, including securities fraud, antitrust, class actions, environmental, social security, and immigration, to name just a few.  She also handled several state law areas through diversity jurisdiction, such as insurance law and contracts.

Polly also served as a staff attorney in the Motions Unit at the Ninth Circuit for more than three years, a position which allowed her to work with each of the judges on the court.  As a motions attorney, Polly orally presented dozens of cases each month to a panel of three judges, explaining the case and the proposed disposition she had drafted.  She handled emergency motions, which often required her to call judges at home after hours so they could work through the emergency together on an expedited basis.  This position gave the judges on the court an opportunity to get to know Polly and to know how her mind works.  It also gave Polly a vast amount of experience in presenting cases to the judges.  She is therefore comfortable in oral arguments, which gives her a strong advantage over opposing counsel.

Polly also has state court experience, having served as a briefing attorney to The Honorable Catherine Stone at the Texas Court of Appeals for the Fourth Judicial District, and as an extern to The Honorable Lloyd Doggett at the Texas Supreme Court.

In addition to working for courts, Polly worked for six years for two prominent national law firms—Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld and Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal (now Dentons).  While at these firms, Polly handled a number of trials and appeals, most notably high-exposure bad faith insurance trials and appeals for State Farm, USAA, and Allstate.  She was often brought in to handle the appeal when another firm lost at trial.  Polly won each of these appeals.

Polly has extensive experience writing amicus curiae briefs in courts around the country to help shape the law that affected the firm’s clients.  Polly kept an eye on cases throughout the country and when one presented the appropriate facts, she brought it to her client’s attention and then wrote an amicus curiae brief on their behalf to assure the law developed in their favor.

Polly worked her way through college and law school.  She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Colorado cum laude, with a double major in Marketing and International Business, and a minor in International Economics.  She received many honors during her time there, including Phi Beta Kappa and the Golden Key Honor Society.  She earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas at Austin, where she served as an editor on the Texas International Law Journal and a recipient of the Robert S. Strauss Presidential Scholarship.  She studied at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the University of London through Duke’s study abroad program.

Polly is admitted to practice in California (2000), Texas (1993), the Northern District of California, the Western District of Texas, the Ninth Circuit, and the Fifth Circuit.  She is a member of the San Francisco, Fifth Circuit, and Ninth Circuit Bar Associations, and the Texas State Bar College.

Polly’s publications include:  A Legal Theory of the Use of Experts in Insurance Claim Adjustment, Vol. 23 No. 5 Ins. Litig. Rep. 140 (2001);  Preservation of Error:  Filing a Lawsuit Through Presentation of Evidence, 30 St. Mary’s L.J. 997 (1999);  Homeowner’s Insurance:  Coverage and Liability, Texas State Bar’s Advanced Ins. Law Course (1997);  Handling Extra-Contractual Claims (Defense Perspective), U.T. Ins. Law Inst. (1996).

Wendy C. Lascher, Esq.
Partner/Certified Legal Specialist in Appellate Law
Ferguson Case Orr Paterson LLP

Though Wendy Lascher is one of California’s best-known appellate lawyers, her work on behalf of clients often begins well before an appeal. By crafting motions and consulting on trial strategy, Wendy helps clients either avoid appeals in the first place, or to be well-positioned to win cases on appeal. 

After nearly four-decades at her appellate-focused boutique, Lascher & Lascher, Wendy brought her practice to Ferguson Case Orr Paterson in 2011. She brought with her a California State Bar-certified appellate specialty in which she has represented clients in front of the United States Supreme Court, many times before the California Supreme Court, multiple U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and in every California Court of Appeal district. She has also handled cases in state and federal trial courts. 

Wendy has handled a wide range of appeals involving multinational corporations, municipalities and other government entities, complex family law, Death Row and other criminal cases, employment, real estate development, bankruptcies and other matters. 

Previously a president of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, she regularly features in Los Angeles Magazine’s "Super Lawyers" roundups of top lawyers as well as its listings of the "Top 100 Southern California Super Lawyers" and "Top 50 Women Super Lawyers," and she is Av-Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbard. She also regularly lectures at the Ventura and Santa Barbara Colleges of Law and regularly speaks about appellate law and other matters for a variety of legal organizations. Widely published in legal journals, she is also the long-time editor of CITATIONS, the newsletter of the Ventura County Bar Association. 

Wendy has been a mentor with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Ventura County since 2008. She has also served as a board member at First National Bank of Ventura, Channel Counties Legal Services, the KCLU advisory board, and the Planned Parenthood Ventura Advisory Council. When not working or volunteering, Wendy enjoys gardening, early morning workouts, hiking, and spending time with her family. She is also a student pilot and expects to acquire her private pilot’s license in 2017. 

Robin Meadow, Esq.
Partner/Certified Appellate Specialist
Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP

Few appellate specialists have successfully tried a jury case.  Robin Meadow tried jury cases for over 20 years at a major commercial firm, while also handling appeals, in many fields of law.  Over time, he realized that it’s nearly impossible to excel at both trials and appeals, because the skill sets and practice rhythms differ completely and often clash. Concluding that his greatest strengths lay in appellate work, Robin joined GMSR in 1994, handling his last trial late that year.

Robin’s trial-court experience gives him a unique perspective on appellate work.  He understands the demands and pressures trial lawyers face and the many ways that things can go wrong in the trial court.  And he is very much at home consulting with trial lawyers during trial, helping them protect their appellate record so they’re well positioned to either preserve a victory or overturn a defeat.

Robin’s practice at GMSR continues the substantive focus he developed in his earlier years—business disputes, real estate, partnerships, and probate and entertainment law.  But, like most appellate lawyers, he is a generalist and at GMSR has also handled multiple significant appeals involving healthcare, family law, personal injury and bankruptcy.

He is also an expert in technology for appellate lawyers and courts.  A pioneer in the use of electronic records and briefs, Robin co-authored the California Second District Court of Appeal’s first protocol for electronic briefs (since adopted by other California Courts of Appeal), and he filed the first electronic brief ever accepted by a California appellate court.

When he isn’t practicing law, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading about history and playing bass guitar in a rock band.

Daryn Pakcyk, Esq.
Sr. Appellate Court Attorney
California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Seven

Daryn Pakcyk is a senior appellate court attorney in Division Seven of the California Court of Appeal.  In that position, Daryn analyzes writ petitions for matters relating to criminal, civil, dependency, probate and family law.  Daryn also assists with the handling of appeals. 

Before starting his career at the Court of Appeal, Daryn worked 18 years in the Los Angeles Superior Court.  Daryn spent 10 years working for two independent calendar departments before moving over to complex litigation where he handled motions pertaining to class actions and mass torts.  He later became a supervising research attorney.  In his role as a supervising research attorney, Daryn was responsible for training new hires and taught classes on motions for summary judgment, anti-SLAPP and demurrers.  He also wrote two MCLE articles for the Daily Journal dealing with cy pres and qui tam actions, and published an article dealing with internet contracts for the Albany Law Journal of Science & Technology. 

Daryn is a graduate of Southwestern University School of Law, where he was an editor of the Southwestern Journal of Law and Trade.  

Kent L. Richland, Esq.
Founding Partner
Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP

Kent Richland has been an appellate lawyer since he graduated from UCLA Law School in 1971.   In 1983, Kent was one of the founding partners of Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland, LLP.

Kent has been lead appellate counsel in hundreds of appeals.  He has argued in state and federal appellate courts across the country, including many high-profile cases in both the California Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court.  He gained national prominence in 2006 for his United States Supreme Court argument in Marshall v. Marshall, in which he successfully represented the late Anna Nicole Smith.

Kent is a frequent lecturer and author on appellate law topics and is co-author, with Presiding Justice J. Anthony Kline of the California Court of Appeal, of West’s California Litigation Forms B Civil Appeals and Writs.  He has served as president of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and multiple terms as president of the California Supreme Court Historical Society.  He was selected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the American Bar Foundation and the Litigation Counsel of America.

Among the honors he has received are the California Lawyer Magazine’s California Lawyer of the Year award in both 2007 and 2010, Best Lawyers’ Los Angeles Appellate Lawyer of the Year Award in 2015, multiple years’ recognition by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as one of the top 100 lawyers in California, multiple years’ recognition as one of the top 100 Southern California Superlawyers and recognition by Chambers USA as one of five “Band One” appellate lawyers in California.

Benjamin G. Shatz, Esq.
Partner, Certified Legal Specialist in Appellate Law
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Ben Shatz is a certified specialist in appellate law who has briefed hundreds of civil appeals, writs and petitions in state and federal courts covering areas of law including employment, entertainment, copyright, trademark, land use, banking, insurance, product liability, professional liability, wrongful death, punitive damages, class actions, anti-SLAPP and unfair competition. Before private practice he served as law clerk to Robert J. Johnston, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Nevada, and as extern to Dorothy W. Nelson, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Ben is Editor-in-Chief of California Litigation, the journal of the State Bar’s Litigation Section, chairs the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s State Appellate Judicial Evaluations Committee and serves on the executive committee of LACBA’s Appellate Courts Section. He is a past Chair of the State Bar Committee on Appellate Courts and the LACBA Appellate Courts Committee.

Since 2005, Ben has coordinated lawyer volunteers for the ACE (Appellate Court Experience) program, in which high school students visit the Second District Court of Appeal, for which he was honored as Lawyer of the Year (Private Sector 2008) by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. He has been named a Southern California Super Lawyer in Appellate Practice (2004-2015); listed in Best Lawyers in America for appellate practice (2012-2015); and is AV-Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Ben is a frequent lecturer and publisher of articles on appellate practice, is an editorial consultant for the Matthew Bender Practice Guide on California Civil Appeals & Writs, and blogs at Southern California Appellate News (http://socal-appellate.blogspot.com).

John A. Taylor, Jr., Esq.
Partner, Certified Legal Specialist in Appellate Law
Horvitz & Levy LLP

John Taylor is a partner at Horvitz & Levy, where he has been practicing since 1993.  He is a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist.

Mr. Taylor has been lead appellate counsel in dozens of appeals in a wide variety of areas (his name currently appears on over 40 published opinions and many more unpublished opinions), including matters involving entertainment law, the right of publicity, the Unfair Competition Law (UCL), breach of contract, insurance coverage, wage and hour law, employment discrimination, personal injury, California’s “lemon law,” arbitration awards, and trusts and estates.

In 2012, Mr. Taylor was lead counsel in Don Johnson Productions, Inc. v. Rysher Entertainment, obtaining a million reduction of a million judgment against his client.  Mr. Taylor has also participated in numerous cases before the California Supreme Court, and in 2009 was lead counsel in obtaining a closely watched decision overturning a million judgment against a coffee manufacturer for the unauthorized use of the plaintiff’s photograph on the label of its coffee jar. In addition, he has authored amicus curiae briefs in the California Supreme Court on issues such as evidentiary requirements in product liability and wage and hour litigation; the scope and application of Proposition 64’s amendments to the UCL; public policy issues arising out of subcontractor indemnity provisions in residential construction contracts; the constitutionality of Proposition 5, the Indian gaming initiative; and the validity of the Seaman’s tort. 

Mr. Taylor is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the Los Angeles County Bar Appellate Courts Section. In 2007, Mr. Taylor was appointed by Chief Justice Ronald George to serve on the Judicial Council Appellate Advisory Committee of California, as one of the three private civil attorneys on the committee, and in 2010 was reappointed to a second term.

In 2009, Mr. Taylor was named to the Top 100 list of leading lawyers in California by the Los Angeles & San Francisco Daily Journal. He is “AV Preeminent” rated by Martindale Hubbell, has been listed every year since 2006 as a Super Lawyer and as a “Best Lawyer” by The Best Lawyers in America, and was included among the overall Top 100 Southern California lawyers for 2011 by Super Lawyers magazine. In 1994, Mr. Taylor was honored as the “Outstanding Young Lawyer” of the year by the Los Angeles Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.

Mr. Taylor received his Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University (summa cum laude) and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude). Following law school, he held a judicial clerkship with the Hon. Patrick E. Higginbotham, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Before joining the firm, Mr. Taylor was a litigation associate with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He is admitted to practice in the California and Utah state courts, the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

San Francisco Faculty:

Harry W.R. Chamberlain, Esq.
Shareholder, Certified Legal Specialist in Appellate Law
Buchalter

Harry Chamberlain is a Shareholder of Buchalter, an Am Law 150 firm, with eleven Western U.S. offices. For over 40 years, he has served as trial and appellate counsel for Fortune 500 companies, and a variety of public and private sector clients in complex litigation matters. He is certified as an Appellate Specialist by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, handling hundreds of appeals across the country, including numerous cases before the California Supreme Court and the highest courts of other states.                                                           

Before joining Buchalter, Harry was general counsel for California‐based professional liability insurers, and managed the law department of a national group of commercial insurance and financial service companies. He is past president of California Defense Counsel and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, preeminent associations of civil defense trial and appellate lawyers. He writes and lectures widely on topics regarding complex litigation, professional responsibility and insurance law.

Michael G. Colantuono, Esq.
Partner, Certified Legal Specialist in Appellate Law
Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC

Michael G. Colantuono is a shareholder in Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, a municipal law firm with offices in Pasadena and Grass Valley. Chief Justice Ronald M. George presented him with the 2010 Public Lawyer of the Year award on behalf of the California State Bar Association. The Los Angeles Daily Journal named him one of “California’s Top Municipal Lawyers” every year since its list began in 2011. The Supreme Court appointed him the first Chair of the Board of Trustees of the State Bar of California; he was previously President of the Bar. The State Bar has certified him as an Appellate Specialist and he is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a prestigious association of fewer than 100 of California’s most distinguished appellate advocates.

Michael is one of California’s leading experts on municipal revenues and has appeared in all six Courts of Appeal in California. In addition, he has argued nine public finance cases in the California Supreme Court since 2004 and briefed two others.

Michael is City Attorney of Auburn and Grass Valley and general counsel of a number of LAFCOs and special districts and previously served six other cities and many special districts. He serves as special counsel to counties, cities and special districts around California.

Michael served as President of the City Attorneys Department of the League of California Cities in 2003–2004 and established its first Ethics Committee.

He served on the Commission on Local Governance in the 21st Century, the recommendations of which led to substantial revisions of the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act. Michael is General Counsel of the Calaveras and San Diego LAFCOs and serves as outside counsel to several other LAFCOs.

Michael graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in Government and received his law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law of the University of California at Berkeley.

He frequently posts comments on local government and municipal finance topics to Twitter ( @MColantuono ) and LinkedIn ( Michael Colantuono ).

Susan Horst, Esq.
Counsel
Complex Appellate Litigation Group, LLP

Susan Horst is a specialist in writs of mandamus and prohibition in the California appellate courts. For more than 31 years, Susan served as the writ attorney for the California Court of Appeal for the First District, Division One, in San Francisco. Susan is one of the only practicing attorneys in California to have devoted virtually her entire career to appellate writs. As writ attorney in the First District, Susan evaluated thousands of pre- and post- trial writ petitions in all types of civil and criminal matters. In the process, she learned precisely what the justices on the Court of Appeal look for before taking the extraordinary step of granting writ relief — and what an opposing party needs to highlight to have the best shot at getting a petition denied.

Susan’s three decades at the Court of Appeal gave her both extensive writing experience and a wide-ranging knowledge of substantive law. Susan’s casework ran the gamut from business and commercial litigation, to personal injury and employment matters, to real estate, insurance, and products liability cases, to professional negligence, disqualification, and privilege issues. The procedural postures of the writ petitions she handled were equally wide-ranging, and included pleading defects and class certification, sealing of court records, discovery disputes, summary judgment, settlement, and enforcement of judgments.

Her practice today focuses on writ petition consulting in the appellate courts and trial court work in anticipation of writ relief. Susan also lectures widely on writ practice and procedure. She has presented seminars to the San Francisco City Attorney, District Attorney and Public Defender Offices, the State Bar of California, California Continuing Education of the Bar, The Rutter Group, PINCUS Professional Education, bar associations across California, and the Center for Judicial Education and Research. She is the co-author of Chapters for Continuing Education of the Bar publications, as well as training materials for numerous continuing education lectures.

Susan’s career at the Court of Appeal followed motion and jury trial skills she developed early on as an Assistant District Attorney in San Francisco. She holds her J.D. from the Santa Clara University School of Law, where she graduated summa cum laude — even though she attended law school part-time at night, while working as a full-time administrator at Stanford University during the day. She also has her B.A. in English from Stanford.

In her spare time ,she also volunteers on the Advisory Board of Advokids, a foster children’s advocacy group, and provides pro bono advice and representation through the Advokids Appellate Project.

Anna-Rose Mathieson, Esq.
Partner
Complex Appellate Litigation Group, LLP

Anna-Rose served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court, taught appellate writing at Stanford Law School, is certified as an appellate specialist by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California, and is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers. The Daily Journal named her one of the Top Women Attorneys in California three times.

Her appeals have ranged across topics as varied as employment law, jurisdiction, antitrust, products liability, and constitutional law. She understands cutting-edge technology issues, having litigated significant copyright and trademark appeals. She has worked on numerous criminal cases and taught criminal law at the University of Michigan Law School. And she knows how to obtain review at the highest level, authoring U.S. Supreme Court petitions for certiorari and merits briefs on a wide range of issues.

Anna-Rose frequently works with trial counsel to brief critical motions, advise on jury instructions, and preserve arguments for appeal. She also helps obtain appellate review of interlocutory issues before a trial court case is final, and often works closely with the firm’s writ specialists on California writ petitions. 

Anna-Rose is also known for her robust amicus practice. Her recent amici briefs include an in-depth empirical examination of patent inter partes review for national health insurance companies (brief available here), a historical analysis in the Trump travel ban case (brief here), and a law and economics brief in a union fees case (brief here). Several of Anna-Rose’s amicus briefs have received substantial news coverage, including one discussed and quoted by The Economist (see the brief here) and another discussed in The New York Times (click here for article).

Anna-Rose serves on a number of legal committees and appears often in the press. She is on the Board of Directors of the Family Violence Appellate Project, on the Amicus Committee of California Women Lawyers, and on the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Appellate Section. She previously served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the American Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Journal and President/Board Chair for the Family Violence Appellate Project. She appears on radio, television, panels, and podcasts to discuss breaking issues of appellate and constitutional law, and writes articles for The Recorder, Daily Journal, California Litigation Review, and other legal publications.

Anna-Rose graduated first in her class at the University of Michigan Law School. She was a Darrow Scholar and won more than a dozen awards in law school, including the school’s highest honor (the Bates Scholarship). She also served as Articles Editor and Symposium Coordinator for the Michigan Law Review. After law school she clerked for Chief Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and then for Justice Ginsburg.

Steven L. Mayer, Esq.
Senior Counsel
Arnold & Porter

Steven Mayer focuses his practice on constitutional litigation and representing public entities. He is a Certified Specialist in Appellate Law certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.

Mr. Mayer has lectured to the Bar Association of San Francisco on new developments in appellate practice and is a past Chairman of the BASF Appellate Practice Section. He is a past President of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers in 2014-15 and has been a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers since 2009.

In 1974, Mr. Mayer served as Staff Attorney at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 1975, he became the Assistant Supervising Staff Attorney, a position he held until he joined Howard Rice in November, 1975. He became a partner at Howard Rice in 1980, and practiced at that firm until it combined with Arnold & Porter in 2012.  He then practiced as a partner at Arnold & Porter until 2014, when he became a Senior Counsel.

Mr. Mayer is currently listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Appellate Law. He has been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer from 2004 through 2017.

Andrea Russi, Esq.
Senior Counsel
Horvitz & Levy LLP

Andrea Russi is an appellate attorney with experience in both state and federal court. She is Senior Counsel in the San Francisco office of Horvitz & Levy.  She previously served for more than four years as a senior appellate court attorney for the California Court of Appeal, First District working for Presiding Justice Ignazio Ruvolo (retired). 

Andrea worked for eight years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California where she was a member of the criminal appeals section. As an AUSA, Andrea authored more than 40 appellate briefs and argued 20 cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She also reviewed and edited briefs drafted by other prosecutors and conducted monthly moot courts in preparation for oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit.  Andrea was also a trial lawyer handling a range of criminal cases from indictment through trial. 

Andrea spent six years at the University of California Berkeley School of Law where she was the Managing Director of two research and policy centers: the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute for Law & Social Policy and the Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice.  She acted as a Lecturer in Residence at Berkeley Law where she taught criminal procedure and as a Lecturer in Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law where she taught appellate advocacy. 

Andrea was an associate at Latham & Watkins.  She clerked on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for the Honorable David R. Thompson and on the United States District Court for the Central District of California for the Honorable William D. Keller.

Andrea graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley.  She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review.

Andrea is co-chair of the Civic and Judicial Appointments Committee for the Queen’s Bench Bar Association with a mission of identifying and encouraging diversity in appointments to public office and the judiciary.  Andrea is a also a board member and grade level coordinator for the Teen and Parent Service Organization (TAPS) where she organizes and supervises volunteer service projects by 20 high school students.

Gary A. Watt, Esq.
Partner
Hanson Bridgett

Gary serves as Chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice. He is a State Bar approved Certified Appellate Specialist, handling writs and appeals in all of the California appellate courts, including the California Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His practice also includes dispositive motions such as SLAPP, summary judgment, and post-trial motions. His appellate experience gives him unique insights into complex cases and esoteric disputes. He excels at issue spotting and arrives at thoughtful solutions to business problems. His practice includes risk management such as interpreting contracts, indemnity provisions, and more.

A passionate appellate lawyer and law professor, Gary has been on the faculty at U.C. Hastings College of the Law since 2001 teaching various appellate law courses and coaching intercollegiate moot court competition teams. Consistent with Hanson Bridgett’s commitment to pro bono work, Gary currently serves as Director of U.C. Hastings’ Ninth Circuit clinical program: the Hastings Appellate Project. As Director, he supervises law students in the pro bono legal representation of appellants. He is also a frequent lecturer at MCLE presentations throughout the Bay Area, and has taught hundreds of lawyers over the years on a vast array of appellate and litigation best practices.

Gary is also Chair of the Contra Costa County Bar Association’s appellate practice section. A prolific writer, Gary is a frequent contributor to the Daily Journal, The Recorder, and other legal publications, with over 75 published articles to date. 

Greg E. Wolff, Esq.

Complex Appellate Litigation Group, LLP

Greg spent nearly three decades in the chambers of four different California Supreme Court justices, analyzing thousands of petitions for review, evaluating hundreds of Supreme Court briefs, and helping the justices draft scores of opinions and orders. He served as a Senior Judicial Attorney for retired Chief Justice Ron George for 10 years, the Head of Chambers for Justice Carlos Moreno for 10 years, the same role for Justice Goodwin Liu for 3 years, and then again for Justice Leondra Kruger for 4 years. All told, over 27 years, Greg gained deep insight into how the Court functions as an institution and how its individual justices reach decisions — along with how best to persuade them. Greg also served for four years as a research attorney at the California Court of Appeal.

He became the Supervisor of the Appellate Section of the Criminal Branch and handled appeals for the Civil Liability Section. In those roles, Greg argued before the California Supreme Court in Serna v. Superior Court (1985) 40 Cal.3d 239, and obtained nine published opinions from the California Courts of Appeal, as well as 12 by the Appellate Division of the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Greg has given dozens of continuing education programs on persuasive writing and the inner workings of the California Supreme Court. As an Adjunct Professor at Hastings College of the Law for 18 years, Greg taught Moot Court as well as Legal Research and Writing, helping students to understand how to analyze complex legal issues and express themselves clearly orally and in writing. 

Greg is a former Executive Committee-member of the CLA Litigation Section’s Committee on Appellate Courts. He also was on the Board of Directors of the Marin County Bar Association. Greg is a graduate of Southwestern Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA.

Fees

Seminar Materials are included with OnDemand and all recorded package options.

CLE Credit

This program is available for both Self-Study and General Participatory CLE.*

CA General:  This program is approved for 6.5 units of general CLE in California.

Certified Legal Specialist in Appellate Law Self-Study (only) CLE:  This program is approved for 6.5 units of Certified Legal Specialist CLE in California in Appellate Law. (Expires 01/23/2025)

*General Participatory CLE:  For those states that make a distinction between self-study and Participatory CLE (CA, IL, NY), please write down the Verification Codes read out during the program by speakers or our announcer and email them to us at info@pincusproed.com and we will issue your Participatory CLE certificate.

This program is approved for CLE in the states listed above.  Upon request, Pincus Pro Ed will provide any information an attorney needs to support their application for CLE approval in other states other than what is listed above.

Terms and Policies

Recording policy: No audio or video recording of any program is permitted.

Seminar Cancellations: Should you be unable to attend for any reason, please inform us in writing no later than 14 days prior to the event and a credit voucher will be issued. If you prefer, a refund, less a $50 non-refundable deposit, will be issued. No refunds or credits will be given for cancellations received within 14 days of an event. However, if you notify us within 14 days of an event, and wish to convert your in-person attendance registration to an Audio CD package (with handout), we can do so. A small additional shipping charge, and sales tax in CA, will be incurred. No shipping charge is incurred for downloads. We will also issue a voucher for the amount paid if you notify us within 14 days and prefer not to have the audio recording.

Substitutions may be made at any time.

Webinars, Tele-seminars and Webcast Cancellations: Once log-in codes and passwords are issued for a webinar, tele-seminars or webcasts, a refund is not possible. If for any reason you cannot attend the event after you have received the codes, we will automatically convert your registration to an instant streaming/instant download or CD format and provide you with the information you need to access the recording after the program concludes and the recording is available.  Conversions to CD require a $8.50 shipping fee, and in CA, 9% sales tax.

Downloads/CDs/DVDs – Refund policy:

Downloads are non-returnable/non-refundable once purchased and received. Tapes, CDs and DVDs are returnable for a full refund or replacement if defective, within 90 days of purchase.

Reminder: The room temperature at hotels and other seminar locations are notoriously hard to control. Please bring a sweater or jacket in case it gets cold and/or layer as if you are going to the movies so you are comfortable.