News from the Director

The Judicial Council has announced that effective September 28, 2024, panel payments under the Court Appointed Counsel Program will be made through ADP, rather than coming from the State Controller’s Office (SCO). Panel attorneys need not take any action. Existing systems, such as the eClaims program and panel attorney direct deposit elections will remain in […]

Learn about the benefits of handling court-appointed appeals, including greater work-life balance and the opportunity to shape the law. Represent indigent parties in criminal, juvenile, or civil commitment appeals. Enjoy the support of appellate project mentors and a robust community of over 600 panel attorneys statewide. Join us Thursday, October 17 at 12.15 via Zoom.

SDAP and CCAP will present a remote training on adverse consequences. It will be Wednesday, October 30 from noon to 1:30. The presentation will answer some questions such as “what is an adverse consequence?” and “what should appellate counsel do when we find one?” SDAP has been approved by the California State Bar as an

There is now an updated form proposed order for augment motions. All motions to augment the record filed in the Sixth District Court of Appeal must be accompanied by the court’s fillable standard order form that can be found here. For civil cases, use this form. The court has given us the following guidance regarding three aspects

SDAP has been informed by the Court of Appeal that in several, recent cases – particularly in juvenile cases – the Court has had difficulties getting the client’s address to send the client the standard letter advising them of their rights when a no-issue brief has been filed on their behalf. In a few cases,

When filing an omission letter in the superior court, the Sixth District Court of Appeal requires the letter be filed and served on the Court of Appeal through TrueFiling. It is not enough to just serve the Court of Appeal. If the letter is only served on the Court of Appeal, the court might miss

Parties are required to use the Judicial Council’s standardized forms when requesting extensions of time in the Sixth District. Attorneys might have their EOTs rejected if the form is not used. If you have any questions, please reach out to your staff attorney buddy. An unlocked version of the form in criminal cases can be

Recently, we have seen some dependency panel attorneys face difficulty in utilizing Truefiling to file review petitions in the California Supreme Court. When initiating a new case by filing an original petition – including a writ petition or petition for review – select “File” and follow the on-screen prompts for making a submission. Very important

Often a key piece of evidence is an exhibit that is not in the clerk’s transcript. Counsel should be sure to move to transfer the exhibit to the court of appeal.

The Sixth District Court of Appeal requires electronic filing through TrueFiling. If you have not already done so, you must register with TrueFiling to electronically file documents in the court of appeal. TrueFiling is a private vendor that has contracted with the state to facilitate the electronic filing system. There is a fee for using TrueFiling, but

The review of claims for research into unbriefed issues presents problems for claims reviewers at the projects and for members of AIDOAC who audit panel claims. The obvious problem is that, unlike other time that is claimed for preparation of motions, briefs and petitions, there is no work product to examine. Plus, the reviewer does

The court of appeal prefers that a juvenile and parties in juvenile cases be referred to by their initials instead of the first name and last initial. The minor’s date of birth, address, and other identifying information should not be included. This would often include the names of the minor’s parents. The same rule applies

Maureen Fox, Patricia Lai, J. Wilder Lee, Jennifer Mannix, Jennifer Peabody, Sara Ruddy, and Victoria Stafford were awarded the Gerald Z. Marer award for panel excellence in 2024. They were assigned a seven codefendant case. The jury returned verdicts for murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and gang enhancements. The appeal lasted eight years, and

SDAP recommends the following procedure when appellate counsel cannot find an issue to brief in a dependency case. Counsel should file a brief that clearly indicates on the cover and in the text of the brief that no issue is being raised. The brief should include a statement of facts and case. It does not

After receiving an adverse result in the Court of Appeal, it is the duty of appellate counsel to provide the client with a reasoned and well informed opinion as to whether to take a petition for review to the California Supreme Court. When should a petition for review be taken and what is the proper

The Legislature has added a host of new penalty assessments that makes it more difficult to determine if the court imposed the correct fine. It is important to calculate the correct penalty assessment in order to determine if there is an issue on appeal or a potential adverse consequence. Penalty assessments are mandatory and can

Article by Paul Couenhoven Despite the long odds of winning an appeal, maybe, just maybe, you will soon join the hit parade and win a case. So, you celebrate with a toast of champagne, ship the transcripts to the client and move on to your next case. Right? Well, maybe. Winning in the court of

California Rules of Court, rule 28(d) provides that two separate petitions for review are required when the Court of Appeal denies an appeal and a habeas petition “without issuing an order to show cause and without formally consolidating the two proceedings, . . . .” As a matter of course, the Sixth District Court of

I. INTRODUCTION One of the persistent challenges for appellate counsel is to receive a timely and accurate copy of the record on appeal.  The goal of this handout is to distill the various tactics to get these records, while also setting forth the various filing/service requirements unique to the Sixth District. Please note that the

The Gerald Z. Marer Award for Panel Excellence SDAP conducts an annual seminar that offers four hours of continuing legal education relevant to the practice of criminal appellate law. At the conclusion of each seminar, SDAP announces the winner of that year’s Gerald Z. Marer Award. The late Gerald Z. Marer was an inspirational figure.