Long-time readers may have noticed that a few things have changed around here in recent days.  And that brings us to our two exciting announcements. First, I’ve moved my practice to the San Francisco office of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. I’ve known and respected Arnold & Porter for its brilliant lawyers and its long-term unwavering commitment to the rule of law since I started my career in Washington D.C. at Skadden Arps.  In…

This time, we’re reviewing the reversal rates in civil cases from 1990 to 2020 for the areas of California outside of Los Angeles’ Second District – the First District (San Francisco) and the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Districts. Division 4 of the First District had the worst reversal rate in this group – 74.07%.  The Sixth District had a reversal rate of 72.72%.  In the Third District, the reversal rate was 70.09%.  Division 5…

This week, we’re beginning a detailed look at the reversal rates, District by District and Division by Division, for the Court of Appeal in the Supreme Court.  First up, reversal rates for Los Angeles’ Second District. Between 1990 and 2020, Division Four of the Second District had the highest reversal rate at 68.18%.  Division One was next at 67.53%.  Division Six had a reversal rate of 67.39%.  The reversal rate in Division Five was 66.23%. …

This time, we’re comparing the lag time from grant to decision in criminal cases to the ultimate case result.  In order not to bias the data, we begin by eliminating the death penalty and habeas corpus cases, where the determinants of lag time are quite different than non-death criminal cases. Once again, there is a strong relationship between the lag time and the ultimate case result: in eight of the past ten years, affirmances have…

This week, we’re looking at the relationship between lag time – the number of days from the grant of review by the Supreme Court to the final decision – and the result in the case.  One might expect that lag time has very little relationship to the case result – surely it’s determined by the complexity of the issues and facts and the Court’s caseload.  But is that really true? In fact, there is a…

Last time, we reviewed the Court’s civil cases, asking whether divided decisions from the Court of Appeal were more likely to be reversed in whole or in part than unanimous ones.  This time, we’re turning our attention to the criminal cases and finding a very different result. In only four of the past thirty-one years were unanimous criminal decisions from the Court of Appeal more frequently reversed than decisions with a dissent.  In most years,…

Two weeks ago, we addressed the question of how common cases with a dissent at the Court of Appeal were on the Supreme Court’s docket.  Our analysis illuminated the issue of whether it’s true that there’s no point in pursuing a petition for review from a unanimous Court of Appeal decision. This week, we’re digging a bit deeper on a related question: are divided decisions from the Court of Appeal more frequently reversed?  The result…