Appellate

November 28, 2020

When Justice Kruger votes with the majority in a criminal case, she follows the expected pattern, more heavily questioning the losing party. When she joins the majority in an affirmance, she averages 2.38 questions to appellants and 1.91 to respondents. When she joins the majority in a reversal, she averages 3.6 questions to respondents and 3 to appellants. When she joins the majority in a split decision, she averages 1.77 questions to respondents and 1.68…

California Supreme Court Review

What Are Justice Kruger’s Question Patterns When She Disagrees With the Majority in a Civil Case?

By Kirk Jenkins

November 28, 2020

This week, we’re reviewing Justice Kruger’s oral argument question totals to see what we can infer from the data on her likely vote. Contrary to the usual pattern, Justice Kruger generally more heavily questions appellants than respondents in civil cases. When she votes with the majority in an affirmance, she averages 5.52 questions to appellants and 4.54 to respondents. When she votes with the majority in a reversal, she averages 5.11 to appellants and 4.97…

Blaneys Appeals

COURT OF APPEAL SUMMARIES (November 23 – November 27, 2020)

By John Polyzogopoulos

November 28, 2020

Jump To: Table of Contents | Civil Decisions | Short Civil Decisions Good afternoon. There were only two civil decisions of any length released by the Court of Appeal this past week, dealing with security for costs of an appeal and variation of spousal support. However, in J.M.J. Family Trust v. Simcoe Block (1979) Limited, we are reminded that a debtor’s liability for “reasonable” legal fees incurred by a creditor enforcing a commercial agreement is…

New York Court Watcher

A Tale of Two Religious Liberty Decisions: SCOTUS Versus NY’s Court of Appeals

By Vin Bonventre

November 27, 2020

(This is a brief detour to address significant decisions just rendered by the Supreme Court and New York State’s Highest court.)One tribunal, the Supreme Court, took constitutionally protected free exercise of religion seriously. Perhaps, the Court even went overboard in doing so.By the sharpest contrast, another tribunal, New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, seemed entirely…

Illinois Supreme Court Review

What Are Justice Theis’ Question Patterns When She Disagrees With the Majority in Criminal Cases?

By Kirk Jenkins

November 26, 2020

This time, we’re reviewing the data for Justice Theis’ question patterns in criminal cases. When Justice Theis agrees with the majority in an affirmance, she follows the expected pattern, averaging 3.22 questions to appellants and only 1.38 to appellees. However, she breaks from the pattern in reversals, more heavily questioning the winner – 3.02 to appellants, 2.66 to appellees. When Justice Theis joins the majority in a split result – affirmed in part, reversed in…

Illinois Supreme Court Review

What Are Justice Theis’ Question Patterns When She Disagrees With the Majority in Civil Cases?

By Kirk Jenkins

November 26, 2020

This week, we’re reviewing Justice Theis’ history in oral arguments in civil cases. Having established that the party which gets more questions at argument overall is likely to lose, we’re trying to determine (1) whether each individual Justice follows that same pattern when she or he agrees with the majority; and (2) when he or she dissents, does the Justice more heavily question the side the Justice thinks should lose, or the side the majority…

North Carolina Appellate Practice Blog

Always Read the Footnotes

By Patrick M. Kane

November 24, 2020

There is a school of thought in legal writing that you should never put anything too important in footnotes, as some readers might skip over them. See, e.g., https://www.legalwritingpro.com/articles/the-lowdown-on-footnotes/. Well, if you are one of those readers, then you would have missed a good footnote from an unpublished Fourth Circuit opinion issued on Monday. The opinion starts with the sentence “This appeal presents conflict of laws and conflict of interests questions in an…

New York Court Watcher

Supreme Shift (Part 3): More Barrett’s Record

By Vin Bonventre

November 21, 2020

In the last post, we looked at two opinions of then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett while on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. They were dissents. One involved immigration, the other gun rights. Patrick Semansky/APForget about originalism or strict construction or deference to the legislative branch or other species of “judicial restraint.” (I feel compelled to keep repeating that.) If you simply…

Blaneys Appeals

COURT OF APPEAL SUMMARIES (November 16 – November 20, 2020)

By John Polyzogopoulos

November 20, 2020

Jump To: Table of Contents | Civil Decisions | Short Civil Decisions Good afternoon. Please find below our summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for the week of November 16, 2020. Sokoloff v Tru-Path Occupational Therapy Services Ltd was another anti-SLAPP decision, perhaps the first by the Court since the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Pointes Protection.. Skof v. Bordeleau considered the jurisdiction of the Superior Court in a claim by…

California Supreme Court Review

What Are Justice Cuellar’s Question Patterns When He Disagrees With the Majority in Criminal Cases?

By Kirk Jenkins

November 20, 2020

We determined last time that Justice Cuellar tends to more heavily question appellants than respondents in civil cases regardless of how the majority is leaning. This time, we’re looking at the data for criminal cases. Unlike civil cases, when Justice Cuellar joins the majority in criminal cases, he follows the expected pattern – he more heavily questions the party likely to lose. When he joins the majority in an affirmance, he averages 2.38 questions to…

Appellate

What Are Justice Kruger’s Question Patterns When She Disagrees With the Majority in Criminal Cases?

What Are Justice Kruger’s Question Patterns When She Disagrees With the Majority in a Civil Case?

COURT OF APPEAL SUMMARIES (November 23 – November 27, 2020)

A Tale of Two Religious Liberty Decisions: SCOTUS Versus NY’s Court of Appeals

What Are Justice Theis’ Question Patterns When She Disagrees With the Majority in Criminal Cases?

What Are Justice Theis’ Question Patterns When She Disagrees With the Majority in Civil Cases?

Always Read the Footnotes

Supreme Shift (Part 3): More Barrett’s Record

COURT OF APPEAL SUMMARIES (November 16 – November 20, 2020)

What Are Justice Cuellar’s Question Patterns When He Disagrees With the Majority in Criminal Cases?

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