When the Ninth Circuit asks the California Supreme Court to decide a question of California law, the Ninth Circuit is required to affirmatively state that it “will accept the [Supreme Court’s] decision.”  (Rule 8.548(b)(2).)  After the Supreme Court’s most recent answer of a Ninth Circuit question — in Peabody v. Time Warner Cable, Inc. — the federal appeals court not only accepted the decision, it did so too quickly.

Following an answer of a Ninth Circuit question, the Supreme Court clerk “must notify that court and the parties when the decision is final.”  (Rule 8.548(f)(6).)  Decisions are typically final no sooner than 30 days after the Supreme Court files its opinion, and the clerk sends a finality letter soon after that, as he did, for example, in Verdugo v. Target Corporation.

In Peabody, the Supreme Court filed its opinion on July 14.  Just 17 days later, however, the Ninth Circuit issued a memorandum remanding the case to the district court for reconsideration consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision.  However, the Supreme Court clerk’s finality letter probably won’t issue until the end of next week.

Nobody has filed a rehearing petition in Peabody and the Supreme Court’s decision is very unlikely to change.  But still, things could get messy if there were a change after the Ninth Circuit had already ruled based on the original decision.