R. Wayne Patterson - California Appellate Attorney

R. WAYNE PATTERSON
Attorney-at-Law
2856 Glendower Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 662-6136, FAX (323)-663-1621
e-mail: rwaynep@earthlink.net
web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~rwaynep

PROVIDING THE FOLLOWING LEGAL SERVICES
Appeals<>Writs<>Major Law & Motion<>In-Depth Legal Research
Law Office Management/File Procedures

APPELLATE BRIEFS

When you appear before an appellate court, 95% of the battle is won, if you can be proud of your brief. It is empowering to know that you have submitted a clear, concise exposition, which persuasively presents your client's position to the court.

The purpose of the appellate brief is to persuade the court that your client's position is meritorious. In order to do this, you must get the attention of the person first reading the brief. To get that first reader's attention, you must be as concise as possible in completely describing and arguing your client's position. The person first reading an appellate brief in a federal courtof appeals, is a research attorney who has never practiced law, and has only been admitted to practice within the previous year. In a California court of appeal, the person first reading a trial court brief may be a law graduate, but is frequently a law student. Despite this paucity of experience, it has been estimated that the recommendation of this first reader is accepted 99% of the time. These first readers are extremely pressed for time, so you must make the client's position clear in as few words as possible.

WRITS

Although writs have a different set of procedural rules and precedents, they are essentially a type of appeal. Conventional wisdom is that less than 1% of all petitions for a writ to courts of appeal are accepted for determination. This extremely low acceptance rate comes about, because acceptance of writs is discretionary, and since there is one appeal as of right in every case, courts of appeal are extremely busy. When the basis for a writ ("no adequate remedy at law") is present, there may be valid reasons to petition for a writ, even though chance of success is not great. In such petitions, it is imperative to convince the appellate court that your issue cannot wait for the conventional appeal taken after entry of judgment.

PETITIONS TO SUPREME COURTS

The granting of a petition for hearing in the California Supreme Court, or a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court is discretionary with each court. It has even less of a chance, than a petition for a writ in a court of appeal. But each court does grant many petitions each year, and yours could be one of those. If your issue is framed in terms of interpretation of a constitution, a statue or public policy, chances seem to be greater for the granting of such a petition. Surprisingly, it is relatively inexpensive to file such a petition. In such a petition, the issue must be so important, that the respective supreme court will consider it among the most important issues that it could possibly consider.

IN-DEPTH RESEARCH

The purpose of in-depth research is to insure that your position has a firm basis, and that you are not surprised by the position of your adversary. It is imperative to find all cases bearing on the issue that you are raising. Prior to the advent of electronic research, in which the full text of each appellate case is accessible from an attorney's personal computer, legal research relied on Shepard's and various secondary sources, such as Cal Jur 3d and West's Digest. Secondary sources index the "law" in a hierarchy of their own choosing, and report appellate precedent in the context of that hierarchy. An attorney conducting legal research is at the mercy of the hierarchy designed by the particular secondary source being used.

With the advent of electronic research, an attorney can now construct the attorney's own hierarchy of the issues in each case, by characterization of the relevant issues in terms of the relationship of key words, relevant statute numbers, and the inapplicability of certain types of case. In most instances, electronic research significantly reduces the number of cases that must be read. Even if the number of cases to be read is large, the nature of electronic research makes it possible to read and consider only the relevant portions of each case. It is not unusual to be able to read and consider the relevant portions of 100 cases in less than an hour. Last minute searches are now possible, because of the nature of electronic research. [example]

WHY HIRE ANOTHER LAW FIRM
TO DO RESEARCH OR PREPARE YOUR APPELLATE BRIEF?

1. Cost.
It is less expensive. Each successive reason listed below, is merely a corollary to the proposition that it is often less expensive to hire another law firm, to conduct in-depth research and prepare your appellate briefs.

2. Prevent the Primary Litigator From Being Distracted.
The attorney who manages the case, and is embroiled in the everyday litigation, makes a living from concentrating on strategic considerations. The detail work necessary to conduct in-depth research and write effective appellate briefs, requires that this primary litigator shift concentration away from the strategic considerations. Although the issues of law are critical, and may well swing the balance of the case, they are distracting to the primary litigator. If the primary litigator must take the time necessary to conduct competent in-depth research, or write a persuasive appellate brief, he or she is prejudicially distracted from strategic considerations.

3. Save Time.
An attorney actively engaged in litigation does not have the time to conduct competent in-depth research or write a persuasive appellate brief. Transferring this work to another law firm, saves valuable time which can be used to focus on the strategic objective.

4. Save Cost of Full-Time Research and Appellate Attorney.
If the incidences in which in-depth research or an appellate brief are infrequent, retention of another law firm for this purpose, eliminates the cost of hiring a full-time attorney to perform those functions.

5. Obtain Another Perspective.
Who in their lifetime has not benefited from listening to the opinion of another on an important decision? In-depth research, or an appellate brief, benefits from the same collegial process. Often times, the primary litigator does not have another person with whom a case can be discussed in depth. One division of the California Court of Appeal has opined that: "[h]aving tried the case themselves, [trial attorneys] become convinced of the merits of their cause. They may lose objectivity and would be well served by consulting and taking the advice of disinterested members of the bar, schooled in appellate practice." In re Estate of Gilkison (1998) 65 CalApp4th 1443, 1449-1450.

6. Writing Style.
It is not unusual, for the primary attorney to be so close to the litigation, and so occupied, that it is virtually impossible to take the time to reflect and analyze, in order to compose a persuasive brief. Many valid appeals are lost for failure to properly brief them.

7. Acceleration of the Appellate Process.
The time from the notice of appeal until the decision of the appellate panel, can be more than two years. There are several critical milestones that cause such a delay. It is sometimes possible to accelerate one or more of these milestones, if one understands the appellate process.

8. Assert All Reasonable Arguments.
An experienced appellate attorney raises all reasonable arguments in support of an issue. For instance, a statute, a Rule of Court, or a local rule, which was not previously cited, may affect the result. An experienced appellate attorney will more likely be familiar with such authorities, and raise them.

9. Preserve Right of Appeal.
If the appellate attorney is consulted early enough, issues may be preserved by asserting them in a timely manner.

LAW OFFICE FILE PROCEDURES

An attorney may be a skilled courtroom advocate, but if that attorney cannot promptly find a relevant document, all that courtroom skill may be wasted, and the case lost. To promptly acquit an attorney's duty to a client, all relevant documents must be accessible promptly. Prompt retrieval of any relevant document is a reasonably attainable capability, which requires commitment and discipline. Not only is prompt retrieval of any relevant document, essential, but it makes the practice of law much easier, and less stressful.

There is cost associated with a viable file management system. It may require an initial design and installation cost, and it certainly requires a periodic cost of updating and maintaining the files. Many law firms ignore the need for a viable file management system, because of the cost. As a result, such law firms frequently cannot promptly find important documents. The cost of a viable file management system is not exorbitant, and it actually saves money.

QUALIFICATIONS

Wayne Patterson graduated from law school in December 1977, passed the February 1978 Bar Exam, and clerked for the Alameda County Public Defender until bar results were available in June 1978, from which date he has continuously practiced law in California. He has never had a complaint filed against him with either the State Bar of California or any local bar association.

His resume shows that his practice initially consisted of both civil and criminal matters, with an emphasis on plaintiff civil rights. Prior to the time that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution was virtually repealed by the United States Supreme Court, he prevailed in an appeal based on the now virtually defunct "exclusionary rule." [synopsis] In recent years, he has focused on large damage, plaintiff personal injury cases, with an emphasis on medical malpractice.

Since the advent of electronic research, facilitated by such commercial data bases as WESTLAW and LEXIS/NEXIS, he has been engaged in plaintiff litigation, with an emphasis on in-depth research, brief writing and law office file procedures. In addition to countless briefs in the superior courts of California, and the federal district courts, he has briefed appeals and petitions to the California Court of Appeal [synopses & sample briefs], the California Supreme Court [synopses & sample briefs], the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [synopses & sample briefs], and the United States Supreme Court [synopses & sample briefs]. He has argued before the California Courts of Appeal and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Prior to the practice of law, Mr. Patterson spent 22 years in the data processing industry. File management, including the prompt retrieval of relevant docu-
ments, is fundamental to that industry. Mr. Patterson understands the level of sophistication that an organization such as a law firm can assimilate, and tailors file management systems to the needs of the particular law firm. He also understands the problems that confront a law firm in making the transition to a different procedure for filing. The approach to the transition to a new procedure, is often the difference between success and failure. At the same time, Mr. Patterson recognizes the minimum requirements for a successful filing procedure, and does not hesitate to insure that a filing procedure includes the elements necessary for success.