On January 29, 2020, the California Supreme Court declined to review a crucial matter of appellate jurisdiction. The petitioner had filed both a civil complaint and a writ petition in the trial court. The appeal deadline in such an action turns on whether the court’s order addressing the writ petition also resolves all issues and leaves nothing else to be decided. Here, the trial court’s order resolving the writ petition did not say whether the court would issue a further order resolving the as yet unaddressed complaint. Four months later, the court issued a judgment that explicitly resolved all issues “in full.” The petitioner met the deadline for filing an appeal from that judgment. The Court of Appeal dismissed, however, ruling that the petitioner should instead have met the deadline for filing an appeal from the earlier order. Washington Legal Foundation joined the prominent California appellate law firm Horvitz & Levy LLP in submitting an amicus curiae letter urging the California Supreme Court to grant review. The letter urged the court to grant the petition and make clear that, to be appealable, an order must expressly resolve all issues and leave nothing else to be decided.
Documents:
