6th Annual Advanced Appellate Program 2021 (CA)(Recorded Package)

What You Will Learn

Part 1 – Three Hours

 

Presenting a Remote Oral Argument

• Content
• Delivery
• Technical Aspects that Impact Your Image and Persuasiveness

Appellate Procedural Issues Resulting From the Pandemic

• An update and inside look from the courts
• Issues with the record preservation arising out of zoom trials
• Writ and Appellate deadline problems
• Emergency orders creating deadline confusion

Forms of Relief in the California Supreme Court Beyond the “Grant of Review”

• Grant and hold
• Grant and transfer
• De-publication
• Dismissal of review as improvidently granted
• Additional bullet points/sub-topics here

Part 2 – Three Hours

 

Advanced Brief Writing Tips

• Writing effective introductions
• Using narrative techniques to improve statements of facts
• Structuring compelling legal arguments
• The limits of judicial notice
• Responding to self-represented litigants
• Handling prior Court of Appeal decisions that your appeal calls  into question
• Distinguishing adverse authority while preserving grounds for review or a grant and hold
• Handling relevant grants of review that occur the close of briefing
• Standard of Review Update—Conservatorship of O.B. and how the heightened clear-and-convincing-evidence standard of proof applicable at trial affects the way an appellate court assesses the evidence
• Update on e-briefs and embedded briefs
  • New service available to embed links to authorities, cited in state court appellate briefs
  • New Ninth Circuit rules governing excerpts of record citations to facilitate the court’s creation of hyperlinked briefs for judges and law clerks

How to Best Argue Statutory Construction in Light of the Canons

• Presenting legislative history for the first time in the COA

Voluntary Dismissal in Trial to Facilitate an Appeal

A Review of Recent Issues in Appealability

• No right to appeal from denial of SLAPP motion on the ground the speech was in the public interest
• Recurring split of authority as to when a writ case has reached final judgment
• Effect of mistakes in the notice of entry of judgment.
• Beyond appealability: Issues that arise from orders disqualifying counsel

Testimonials

 

“Very useful information and insights, including what happens inside appellate courts, from the BEST, most knowledgeable sources.” Jay-Allen Eisen, Esq.

“I always take away important ideas and tweak my practices following a Pincus Appellate Summit.” Leslie Ellen Shear, Esq.

“The program lived up to my expectations. The topics were interesting and the speakers were engaging (a particularly tough task in this virtual world).  I’m looking forward to Part 2 on Thursday!” Tiffany J. Gates, Esq.

“Good content and speakers.” Tom Freeman, Esq.

“As always, excellent speakers and content. Very informative with practical and useful anecdotes.” Marisa Janine-Page, Esq.

“Excellent programs so far. The presenters are top rate and it is always nice to get insight form the actual judges and justices about things happening behind the curtains.” Jeremy Robinson, Esq.

“Excellent as usual. The insights from Justices and expert practitioners are so valuable.” Lori A. Sebransky, Esq.

“Excellent program and great speakers.” (Thomas) Christopher Johns, Esq.

“Greatly appreciated the program, it was right on the edge of what is happening today. I am coming back!” Alex Vollkov, Esq.

“I learned a lot about advanced appellate practice.” John L Jones II, Esq.

“The program lived up to the description, which is high praise.” Madeline Miller, Esq

“Recognized appellate speakers. Good content and practical insights.” David Lantzer

“Lovely and pleasant, very satisfied.- thanks.” Nathan W. Gabbard, Esq.

“Great program as always.” Susan Horst, Esq.

“I was very impressed with the discussion on statutory interpretation.” John L. Jones II, Esq.

“Truly useful with Wendy’s segment as the most valuable.” Leslie Shear, Esq.

“Excellent, as always!” Marisa Janine-Page, Esq.

“I loved it. thank you!” Alex Volkov, Esq.

“The program was wonderful, as usual. I liked that it was split up into two separate parts/days.  That made it much easier to fit into my schedule.  Additionally, the topics were truly “advanced” and timely — particularly the discussion about presenting remote oral arguments.  The whole program was great!  I look forward to attending again next year. :-)” Tiffany J. Gates, Esq.

“Excellent, as always!” Marisa Janine-Page, Esq.

“Wonderful. The program was very enlightening and amazing. The tips are incredible and very refreshing and although they seemed intuitive, they truly are not.” Francisco Javier Aldana, Esq.

“Very good program. Day 2 was very beneficial to me.” Paul Young

“I have attended past programs (in person) and they have been well organized and presented. The written materials have been excellent.” Christopher D. Lockwood, Esq.

“Excellent program. I wouldn’t change anything.”

“Great, as always. Thank you very much for doing this, Faith and your team.”

“Generally enjoyed the presentation.”

“The program was excellent.”

“Great insights; so appreciated.”

“I loved it.”

“I liked the program and was able to listen in on the phone.”

“Excellent and different than “the usual. Very innovative choice of subjects of importance to appellate specialists.”

“Recommended by colleagues. Really great program. Wonderful insights into thinking of judges and practitioners.”

“Terrific, as always.”

“Very informative. “

“Very useful information and insights, including what happens inside appellate courts, from the BEST, most knowledgeable sources.”

“Very informative program filled with practical and helpful information.”

“Excellent program. Very practical stuff.”

“The program lived up to my expectations. The topics were interesting and the speakers were engaging (a particularly tough task in this virtual world).  I’m looking forward to Part 2 on Thursday!”

“I liked the mix of appellate practitioners and judges.”

“Good content. PowerPoints were helpful.”

“Excellent program, I wouldn’t change anything.”

“The panelists were all good.”

“Found issues related to trial court level and what might become appellate issues as a result very interesting and helpful. Also great advice on how to handle a writ when docs/transcripts are missing was excellent.”

“Ben Shatz was an absolutely fantastic moderator. The first two panels also were fantastic – so interesting, organized, and the content was unique, useful, and delivered efficiently.”

“The oral arguments by video was useful, the lighting/audio/image information was useful.”

“Timely. The substance of the final segment on forms of Supreme Court relief other than grant of review was the most interesting part of the program for me.”

“I enjoyed the program, particularly the variety of speakers and mix of discussion about both technical and legally substantive issues.”

“The first program with the three justices regarding virtual oral argument was really good I thought. The last section with Justice Groben was interesting to get an insider view on how the Cal. Sup. court operates behind the scenes.”

“Excellent as usual. The insights from Justices and expert practitioners are so valuable.”

“Very much enjoyed the program.”

“Excellent program and great speakers.”

“I really enjoyed the conversational feel between the speakers.”

“I loved it, coming back for Part 2!”

“The program provided useful information.”

“Having Justice Groban on to explain the process before the Supreme Court was immensely informative.”

“The program lived up to the description, which is high praise.”

“I liked the program and was able to listen in on the phone.”

“Video argument sessions were great.”

“Good to hear tips for video arguments and the discussion Justice Groban was enlightening.”

“Really great program. Wonderful insights into thinking of judges and practitioners.”

“I thought it was really good. The speakers were well prepared, and not rambling, and the presentations were on point.”

“Overall, terrific!”

“I appreciate the program’s practical advice on navigating online oral argument.”

“Appreciated the practical and timely remote appearance advice.”

“Wonderful appellate presentations; insightful and helpful for the daily practitioner.”

“Thoughtful, informative, and helpful.”

“Mr. Colantuano and Judge Klatchko were very good and helpful.”

“The nuts and bolts for arguing before the court of appeal was helpful, as I’m preparing for my first argument.”

“The justices are incredibly valuable. Thanks to them for participating.”

“Very informative with practical and useful anecdotes.”

“I learned a lot, and enjoyed the variety of topics discussed. I also appreciated hearing from speakers with “boots on the ground” perspective about the various technical issues the court has seen arise now that most proceedings are remote.”

“I learned a lot about advanced appellate practice.”

“Very interesting discussion on remote oral argument procedures especially. Lots of good tips.”

“Excellent and different than “the usual”.”

“The 3-hour, remote format made it more convenient to attend.”

“Was an excellent presentation, especially remotely.”

“I’ve been to several of these seminars over the years and I’ve generally enjoyed them.”

“I am coming back!”

“As always, a worthwhile seminar and glad I could attend remotely. Very much looking forward to Part II.”

“Year in and year out this is the most useful and interesting of the many CLE seminars I’ve attended.”

“The program is always very valuable and insightful as appellate practitioners tend to encounter tricky, interesting, and challenging issues that are excellent topics for discussion with colleagues and peers.”

“Great content, very informative.”

“Great mix of topics!”

“Good speakers, good topics, right length. Breaking it across two days is great for video conferences.”

“Good refresher.”

“Liked the diversity of opinion with the other panelist.”

“Loyalty to Faith Pincus, great content, and (usually) the camaraderie of being with so many folks I know.”

“Very informative and it was great to hear from various members of the legal community.”

“Great mix of topics!”

“The Justice Grimes/Segal part was great.”

“No negative feedback, I thought it was all very helpful.”

“Enjoyed some of the more arcane subjects. Excellent review of the more familiar subjects.”

“Excellent Speakers and Program Content.”

“Excellent information all around. The insight from Justice Segal about his division’s and his personal decision-making process and considerations was extremely useful.”

“Thought the content was very good and topical.”

“Today’s program was good as well. Interesting discussions about brief-writing and statutory construction, among other things.”

“It was great, super informative. I really appreciated all of the individual insight.”

“Very practical and very helpful.”

“I really enjoyed the practical sections regarding brief writing and virtual oral arguments.”

“Good, clean presentation with useful discussion feel as opposed to lecturing on and on.”

“Received a lot of good, practical information and advice regarding handling of appeals and appellate issues.”

“I enjoyed the practical tips and suggestions on brief writing.”

 

The following testimonials are from our previous Advanced Appellate Conferences in California:

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

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

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

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

“Excellent.” – Ryan Artola, 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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

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

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

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

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

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

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

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

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

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

“Wonderful program.”

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

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.”

“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!”

“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.”

“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.”

“Great seminar.”

Faculty

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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.

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Harry W.R. Chamberlain II, 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.

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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 ).

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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, Susan is an adviser to the Executive Committee of the Litigation Section of the California Lawyer’s Association.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.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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Fred A. Rowley, Jr., Esq.
Litigation Partner
Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

 Fred A. Rowley, Jr. is a litigation partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, where he handles appeals and complex litigation.

Fred is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He is regularly ranked as a leading appellate lawyer in Chambers USA and the Daily Journal. In Chambers USA, clients have described him as “brilliant, rigorous and dedicated” and “extremely smart and an excellent writer,” noting that he “will take enormously complex concepts and explain them perfectly.” In 2019, he was recognized by Los Angeles Business Journal as one of its Most Influential Minority Lawyers, and by the Daily Journal in its annual review of Top Appellate Reversals for his win in King v. CompPartners, 5 Cal.5th 1039 (2018), an important workers’ compensation appeal in the California Supreme Court.

Fred represents a wide range of clients, from Fortune 100 companies to non-profit organizations, in appeals before federal and state courts across the country. He has argued more than 50 appeals and served as lead counsel in dozens more. He has presented argument before the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and the Delaware Supreme Court (three-justice and en banc panels). He frequently appears before the California Courts of Appeal and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Second Circuits, and has also presented argument in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court.

His appellate representations cover a wide range of subjects and issues, spanning civil, criminal, and bankruptcy matters. He has particular expertise and experience in the banking industry, representing banks in appeals arising out of the 2008 financial crisis; in the securities field, representing executives and companies in securities class action appeals; in labor and employment cases, representing companies in discrimination and class action appeals; and in the utilities and telecommunications industries, representing companies in regulatory and complex litigation appeals. Fred also has an active practice in the U.S. Supreme Court. He is the co-chair, along with Professor Stuart Banner, of the MTO/UCLA Law School Supreme Court Clinic, which represents indigent criminal defendants in filing certiorari petitions.

Fred originally joined Munger, Tolles & Olson in 1999, and left for four years to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California, where he handled criminal appeals.  He rejoined the firm in 2006. 

Throughout his career, Fred has played a leadership role in civic affairs and bar organizations. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, serving as adviser to the Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States, and served for many years as a Commissioner on the California Commission on Uniform State Laws, representing the State of California at a national conference on uniform laws issues. Fred previously served as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Appellate Practice committee, co-chair of the Central District of California Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, and president of the Federal Bar Association of Los Angeles. He has also served as a member of the California State Bar’s Standing Committee on Appellate Courts. He is a past fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Outside the law, Fred is active in his community. He has coached youth baseball and soccer, and was a board member and President of the Pasadena Southwest Little League. He previously served on the boards of Foothill Family Service and the Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment.

Fred was born in Manila, Philippines and raised in Vallejo, California.  He lives with his wife and their three children in South Pasadena, California.

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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).

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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.

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Fees

Three Recorded Package options to choose from:

This program was recorded live on February 16 & 18, 2021.

CLE Credit

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

CA General: This program is approved for 6.0 units of general CLE in California.
Certified Legal Specialist in Appellate Law CLE: Approved for 6.0 Self Study Certified Legal Specialist CLE in Appellate Law through 2/16/2026.  Approved for 6.0 units of Participatory Certified Legal Specialist CLE in California in Appellate Law through 02/16/2023.

New York: This program is eligible for credit in New York under New York’s CLE Approved Jurisdiction policy, for 6.0 CLE units. Pincus Professional Education is a CA Accredited Provider, which is a NY approved jurisdiction. See Section 6 of the New York State CLE Board Regulations and Guidelines for further information.

Self-Study CLE certificates are already included in your recorded package, in the “Materials” Folder.

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.