In today’s Daily Journal [subscription required], Laura Ernde reports that three anonymous sources have confirmed that Justice Carlos Moreno will join the Los Angeles office of Irell & Manella after he steps down from the California Supreme Court on Monday.  Neither Moreno nor the firm would confirm the report.  Moreno intends to announce his future [...]

The following is our summary of the Supreme Court’s actions on petitions for review in civil cases from the Court’s conference on Wednesday, February 23, 2011.  The summary includes those civil cases in which (1) review has been granted (not including grant-and-transfers), (2) review has been denied but one or more justices has voted for [...]

Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times carried an article marking an unusual milestone: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s fifth anniversary of sitting in silence during oral argument while his eight colleagues pepper advocates with questions.  According to the article, Justice Thomas has explained his refusal to ask questions in the following terms: “the oral arguments are [...]

The following is our summary of the Supreme Court’s actions on petitions for review in civil cases from the Court’s conference on Wednesday, February 16, 2011.  The summary includes those civil cases in which (1) review has been granted (not including grant-and-transfers), (2) review has been denied but one or more justices has voted for [...]

The Supreme Court normally files its opinions at 10:00 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays.  When a Monday is a court holiday, like it will be next week, the court usually waits until Thursday to file a ready opinion.  However, in what the court’s website is calling a “special filing,” the court will issue opinions in two cases on Tuesday.  One [...]

As this graph shows, we’ve reviewed all civil cases in which review was granted during the three years between January 2008 and the end of December 2010 to determine if the Supreme Court is more or less likely to grant review depending on which appellate district issues the opinion.  Assuming a relatively even rate of [...]

The Supreme Court’s Online Press Center now offers a short video summary of the highlights of Tani Cantil-Sakauye’s ascent to the post of Chief Justice.

The Supreme Court today unanimously agreed to answer the Ninth Circuit’s question about the standing — under California law – of ballot initiative proponents to defend their initiative in court. The court has set a fast briefing schedule “to facilitate expedited consideration and resolution of the issues presented, and to accommodate oral argument in this matter as early as [...]

We noted that Court of Appeal Justice Richard Aronson on Monday was assigned to sit pro tem on the Supreme Court for a case to be argued next month, even though he had served pro tem on another case less than two months ago.  Today, Justice Aronson was replaced on the March calendar by First District [...]

As reported in the Sacramento Bee and the Business Journal, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Monday issued a stay order in a petition for review on the same day the petition was filed.  The petition is not your typical case. The Sacramento Superior Court ordered the foreman of a jury that convicted a man of assault to [...]

When the Supreme Court last week announced its March oral argument calendar, the first with the vacancy that will be created by Justice Carlos Moreno’s impending retirement, pro tem justices had been appointed to sit on only four of the seven cases to be heard.  The court today posted an amended calendar showing pro tem justices for all [...]

After Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye last week relayed some “hints” about Governor Brown’s preferences, Maura Dolan reports in today’s Los Angeles Times about a short list of candidates to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno.  Dolan compiled the list by talking to “judges and law professors who have been consulted about the selection.”  The names purportedly on Governor Brown’s list [...]

This topic is not strictly in line with our usual coverage of the Supreme Court, but I’m taking the liberty of using our blog to get the word out on an upcoming ABA telephone seminar titled  “California’s Kwikset Decision and Its Effect on Standing and Monetary Recovery under California Unfair Competition Laws.”  This will be Tuesday, [...]

Bob Egelko blogs for the San Francisco Chronicle that, at his meeting last week with Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Governor Brown “dropped a few hints” about whom he will appoint to replace retiring Justice Carlos Moreno.  The Chief is quoted as saying about Brown that, although he didn’t mention any names, “He’s interested in ethnic diversity, he’s looking [...]

The Court is holding no conference today because it is hearing oral argument in San Francisco.  Accordingly, this week no action will be taken on petitions for review and no opinions will be ordered published or depublished.

The lawsuit to block the sale to private investors of state buildings — including the buildings housing the Supreme Court and First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco and the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles — may have been mooted today.  (We’ve written about the litigation, most recently here.)  The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Governor [...]

The Supreme Court has announced its March oral argument calendar.  It includes one case — Pooshs v. Philip Morris USA, Inc. – that was originally scheduled to be argued yesterday.  That argument was postponed, possibly because Justice Carlos Moreno is retiring and will not serve as a pro tem justice on the cases in which he heard [...]

The Armenian Reporter has details of the January 20 dedication ceremony.  Justice Baxter is a Hastings alum.

As we mentioned in this post, a group of California jurists formed the Alliance of California Judges in 2009 to advocate for the autonomy of local courts.  This was, in part, a reaction to former Chief Justice Ronald M. George’s successful effort at crafting a centralized judicial branch of government and the concomitant growth in [...]

Former Chief Justice Ronald George has been serving as an appointed pro tem member of the Supreme Court so he can participate in opinions for cases in which he heard oral argument before his retirement.  That is typically what retiring members of the court do.  Not so for Justice Carlos Moreno. According to Laura Ernde in today’s Daily [...]