Justice Anita Earls of the North Carolina Supreme Court knows about some reforms that will improve our justice system. But she also knows about some that will provoke an unhappy response—including an investigation against her personally. In this second half of our interview, Justice Earls talks about how she found herself under investigation for ca…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Mary Robinette Kowal, author of Silent Spaces. About Silent Spaces: Silent Spaces: Tales from the Lady Astronauts is a collection of 9 short stories in the Lady Astronaut Series written by Mary Robinette Kowal, including one written just for this collection. With this campaign the book will be available in print…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Lynne and Michael Damian Thomas, Co-Publishers/Co-Editors-in-Chief of UNCANNY MAGAZINE. About Uncanny Magazine Year 11: This One Goes to ELEVEN: Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas have run Kickstarters for the seven-time Hugo Award-winning and 2024 Locus Award-winning Uncanny Magazine Years One, Two, Three,…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Audrey Burges, author of A House Like An Accordion. About A House Like An Accordion: Keryth Miller is disappearing. Between the growing distance from her husband, the demands of two teenage daughters, and an all-encompassing burnout, she sometimes feels herself fading away. Actual translucence, though—that’s new…

Just because you’re law-abiding doesn’t mean you won’t need a criminal-defense attorney. There are more criminal laws in federal and California state law books than you could read in a decade. (I asked ChatGPT: if you printed them all out, they would be taller than the 24-story AT&T building in San Diego.) Enter Criminal Defense Hero Don Hammond. I…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Josh Malerman, author of Incidents Around the House. About Incidents Around the House: To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?” When horrifying incidents around…

Justice Anita Earls of the North Carolina Supreme Court knows about some reforms that will improve our justice system. But she also knows about some that will provoke an unhappy response—including an investigation against her personally. In this first part of our interview, we discuss Justice Earls’ path from a 30-year civil rights attorney to supr…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Peng Shepherd, author of ALL THIS AND MORE. About ALL THIS AND MORE: Meek, play-it-safe Marsh has just turned forty-five, and her life is in shambles. Her career is stagnant, her marriage has imploded, and her teenage daughter grows more distant by the day. Marsh is convinced she’s missed her chance at everythin…

We have a few big cases to cover: The Supreme Court, 9-0, guaranteed continued access to abortion pills. A 9th Circuit split panel, meanwhile, allows a challenge to a Covid-19 vaccine mandate to proceed, challenging Buck v. Bell forced sterilization-era public health precedent. And a get-out-of-arbitration-free card case get reversed on FAA grounds…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, author of GRIM ROOT. About GRIM ROOT: On the set of The Groom, a group of women must compete for the heart of Midwestern bachelor Tristan by spending a week in a haunted house. Divorcee Linda, resigned to her role as the show’s underdog, finds her resolve cracking when she begins to fall f…

John Sylvester was the counsel of record in the controversial Abdelqader v. Abraham published opinion. In the previous episode we discussed why it was controversial. (Short version: because the Court of Appeal, sub silentio, thumbed its nose at the Supreme Court and concluded that a missing finding required by statute gives you a an automatic get-a…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Sarah Pinsker, author of Haunt Sweet Home. About Haunt Sweet Home: When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplic…

John Sylvester was the counsel of record in the controversial Abdelqader v. Abraham published opinion. Why was it controversial? Because the Court of Appeal thumbed its nose at the Supreme Court, which had held in F.P. v. Monier that just because the trial judge forgets to make a required written finding you don’t get an automatic get-a-new-trial-f…

Every attorney has felt the concern over a growing receivable, and the frustration of a nonpaying client. In the continuation of our discussion in the last episode, Carl Mueller shares his top 10 tips to avoid them and win them. The tips include: See a “red flag”? Trust your gut, and run. Check your retainer agreements for compliance with Business …

Every attorney has felt the concern over a growing receivable, and the frustration of a nonpaying client. Carl Mueller litigates these billing disputes and explains what attorneys should know to avoid them and to win them: All the billing disputes are basically the same, so… Spot the “red flags.” (You know what they are.) If you do get into a dispu…

Appellate justices’ research attorneys are the ones advising the justices about your arguments and writing the opinions. We discuss 10 tips offered at a recent Orange County Bar Association event. Here is a taste: 😮 Biggest surprise: The Court of Appeal wants hyperlinked briefs. They want to be able to click on your record cites to confirm your fac…

Last time, we set the table with special-education attorney Tim Adams to discuss the big 9th Circuit win for parents of kids with IEPs (individualized education protocols). Now we dig in to Irvine Unified School District v. Landers and Gagliano. After covering the fact that the school district, to get out of helping a dyslexic student get the help …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Ari Marmell, author of Dust, Obelisks, Book One. About Dust, Obelisks, Book One: For Flight Engineer Cynthia Han and her fellow astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 81 has proved as mundane as space travel ever gets. Yes, this would be Cynthia’s final NASA mission, for reasons she’s so f…

A big 9th Circuit win for parents of kids with IEPs (individualized education protocols) came down recently, and the prevailing attorney is podcast alum Tim Adams. In the first of this two-part discussion, we set the table to discuss Irvine Unified School District v. Landers and Gagliano. For example, to understand why parents trying to help their …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Maurice Broaddus, author of Black Panther: T’Challa Declassified. About Black Panther: T’Challa Declassified: He’s a king, a hero, a loving brother and son, a husband to a goddess. The orphan king—the Haramu-Fal—and the Damisa-Sarki. And a man facing his doubts, his failures, and his destiny. Revisit the life of…

Are you expecting a lawsuit? And do you want to get that lawsuit into federal court? If your client is domiciled in California, you need to know about “snap removals.” If you get wind of the lawsuit before it is served, you might be able to defeat the removal-bar on home-state defendants. But don’t commit a “super snap” removal. That’s when you rem…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Tim Akers, author of The Eccentrics. About The Eccentrics: Led by the eighth incarnation of Nikola Tesla, the Society of Eccentric Geniuses protects the Mundane world from the horrors of the Gestalt, a timeline of the future that never was. Powered by SCIENCE and steam, the Eccentrics travel the world in their a…

Racial minorities are sometimes removed from prospective juries—just like everybody else. But the Legislature is so concerned that this could happen on the (obviously improper) basis of race that the Racial Justice Act prohibits a challenge to a racial minority even on the basis of proper factors, such as lack of life experience. And if that happen…

Every day as an appeals lawyer brings new puzzles. But some puzzles repeat. So in this episode, we compile the top 10 tips dispensed regularly to trial attorneys working in family court. They include: 👉 Know your appealable issues—appeal now, or lose it forever! 👉 Request a statement of decision. Don’t need to, you say? Judge already gave a tentati…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Charlie Huston, author of CATCHPENNY. About CATCHPENNY: Sidney Catchpenny has had a bad run. Laid low by a years-long bout of debilitating depression, he’s all but squandered his reputation as one of the most uniquely talented thieves in LA. There aren’t many who can do what Sid does. He’s a sly, a special kind …

The U.S. Supreme Court provides awaited guidance on public officials’ use of social media, and the California Supreme Court gives a cautionary tale about waiving the right to a jury trial. Jeff and I discuss: 📰Free Speech on Government Social Media: Lindke v. Freed (Mar. 15, 2024, No. 22-611), notable for being short and unanimous, holds that, when…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Madeleine Roux, author of What If…Loki Was Worthy?. About What If…Loki Was Worthy?: Thor—Son of Odin, God of Thunder, Wielder of Mjolnir—is dead. And Loki is responsible. It was meant to be only a joke—tampering with the Destroyer, changing Thor’s course to Midgard—a bit of mischief with a chance of maiming. But…

Raffi Melkonian has argued and won in the U.S. Supreme Court, and started the #AppellateTwitter community of appellate attorneys on Twitter/X, where he has over 65,000 followers, and speaks and writes on appeals across the country. And Raffi is here to tell you that building a business on an appellate practice—even a very successful one—is very har…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Chris Radcliff, who backed the Uncanny Magazine Year 10: A Decade of Delightful Defiance Kickstarter at the THIRD NERD level! About Chris Radcliff: Software engineer, space nerd, citizen scientist, geek dad, weird kid, and Uncanny Magazine Kickstarter backer! Mentioned in this episode: Upstart Crow SpaceUp Uncon…

This week, Patrick and Tracy are chatting about a Publisher’s Weekly article on Brandon Sanderson’s Audible announcement. This leads us down the path of talking royalty splits, agents and the publishing ecosystem, as well as the difference between a guild and a union, SFWA, RWA and more. This week’s picks: Tracy: GreenLight: Debit Card for Kids and…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James Goodhand, author of The Day Tripper. About The Day Tripper: The right guy, the right place, the wrong time. It’s 1995, and Alex Dean has it all: a spot at Cambridge University next year, the love of an amazing woman named Holly and all the time in the world ahead of him. That is until a brutal encounter wi…

We discuss how to avoid appellate sanctions, and an unusually successful motion for reconsideration: $50k sanctions against appellant for blowing appellate procedure. Motion for reconsideration was untimely, but righteous. Trial judge did not take the Court of Appeal’s hint, so writ issued. (But the trial judge was right to let the writ issue.) Ant…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Moses Ose Utomi, author of The Truth of the Aleke. About The Truth of the Aleke: The Aleke is cruel. The Aleke is clever. The Aleke is coming. 500 years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo, the City of Truth stands as the last remaining free city of the Forever Desert. A bastion of freedom and peace, the …

There are 30,000 law clerks in the U.S., and we have no good way to know to judge their experiences. So Judge Douglas Nazarian of the Appellate Court of Maryland—and board member of the Legal Accountability Project—asks judges everywhere to take the LAP Pledge. The Project hosts a growing database of survey responses from judicial clerks, but it ne…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James Enge, author of EVIL HONEY, a new Morlock Ambrosius short story. About Old Moon Quarterly: Issue 3, Winter 2023: Old Moon Quarterly is a small, independent online magazine devoted to publishing weird sword-and-sorcery fiction set in a historical paranormal setting or a secondary-world, with a focus on well…

You thought health and wellness was just for hippies, losers and weirdos. But you were wrong. Leslie Porter explains that if you are waiting for your health issues to become acute enough for a prescription, you are not at your best. Not only are you laying the groundwork for possible big problems down the road, you have lower energy, weakened drive…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome T.R. Napper, author of Aliens: Bishop. About Aliens: Bishop: The USCSS Patna has been found. Although the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever, his creator has other plans. Michael Bishop seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind, and brings Bishop back to life—but for what reason? No …

Next time your opposing counsel takes issue with something you say, don’t be surprised to find a complaint in the next filing citing to rule 8.3 of the Rules of Professional Conduct—the new “snitch rule.” There are about a dozen terms of legal art in the snitch rule, so we asked Judge Meredith Jury (Ret.) and Certified Bankruptcy Specialist Stella …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Amanda Jayatissa, author of ISLAND WITCH. About ISLAND WITCH: Set in 19th century Sri Lanka and inspired by local folklore, the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal villa…

Just a few years out of law school, Kyle O’Malley won a landmark case in the Supreme Court of California. The employer’s screening service in *Raines v. US Healthworks Medical Group*, 15 Cal.5th 268 (2023) used a generic questionnaire asking about menstrual cycles, hemorrhoids, hair loss, and all sorts of fool questions not tailored to the specific…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Ray Nayler, author of The Tusks of Extinction. About The Tusks of Extinction: Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again. Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world’s last …

The 9th Circuit is taking up the ostensible narrow issue of appealability of anti-SLAPP orders. But it could be broader. Much broader. If the court decides anti-SLAPPs are procedural rather than substantive, says Cory Webster, that would mean no more anti-SLAPP motions in federal court. We also discuss that recent panel that departed from an earlie…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Wole Talabi, author of Convergence Problems. About Convergence Problems: From the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Nommo award nominated author of Shigidi and The Brass Head Of Obalufon comes a stunning new collection of stories that investigate the rapidly changing role of technology and belief in our lives as we search…

The Supreme Court has granted cert on whether prosecuting a homeless sidewalk-camper is cruel and unusual punishment. And the 9th Circuit has granted en banc review whether anti-SLAPP denials are appealable. Also: You are doing MSJ separate statements wrong (maybe). There are two schools of thought, and the Court of Appeal in a partially published …

California law now provides for initial discovery disclosures. Get a template handy for your upcoming cases. And watch out for the new minimum $1,000 sanction for discovery misconduct. And some recent cases: The definitive answer whether orders on motion to enforce settlements are appealable is: Nobody has any friggin’ idea. And the answer on how t…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Shannon Lawrence, author of Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights. About Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights: When Selina Moonstone, a Myth Stalker, gets a late night call from her mentor about a Wendigo problem, she arms up and heads to Canada, only to find out the Wendigo is someone close to her. Accustomed to facing off with…

Yisrael Gelb focuses his appellate practice on helping plaintiff lawyers beat summary judgment. We talk about some of his approaches to successfully opposing summary judgment motions, including: 🔧 Look for common defects in the moving party’s separate statement 🤜 Push back on the moving party’s showing. It is often not up to snuff. Drive that point…

This week, Patrick and Tracy ring in the new year by chatting with J.T. Evans, author of HIVE DREAMS. About HIVE DREAMS: Aell the bladesinger is a former gladiatorial slave. Stiles the lockwhisperer is a streetwise cat burglar. Trying their best to get by but always embroiled in trouble and chaos, they form a formidable duo with a strong bond of fr…

Looking back on the year’s 50 episodes, we discuss some of our best guests, including our 9th Circuit correspondent, Cory Webster, our legal-writing correspondent, Ryan McCarl, our legal-movie correspondent, Gary Wax, and our inspirational public-interest appellate lawyers Chris Schandevel and Carl Cecere. There’s our legal-citation-parenthetical m…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome GennaRose Nethercott, author of Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart (and other stories). About Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart (and other stories): The stories in Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart are about the abomination that resides within us all. That churning, clawing, ravenous yearning: the hunger to be held,…