The UCL Practitioner

17200 blog hiatus

My post below on the NASSCO case will be my last substantive post until after my trial starting on Feb. 6th is over. Meanwhile, please continue to email me with UCL-related opinions, briefs, orders, questions, etc. As always, thanks for reading the blog.

Call for more poll responses and amicus briefs

I'm still collecting responses to my impromptu, unscientific Prop. 64 poll from last week. I'm also still collecting amicus briefs in the Mervyn's and Branick cases. The ones that I have so far are listed here. As you can see, I have most (but not all) of the Mervyn's amicus briefs, and only one of the Branick briefs. I also need a copy of the Branick reply brief on the merits. If you have a copy of one of these briefs, please email it to me and I will put it up. As for the poll, I've received some interesting responses, which I will summarize in a future post, but there's got to be more trial-level activity going on out there. What Prop. 64 issues are being actively litigated now that retroactivity is marinating at the Supreme Court? Inquiring minds want to know.

Court of Appeal says: "This must stop"

Even though it's off the topic, I can't resist posting about Kaufman & Broad Communities, Inc. v. Performance Plasterin, Inc., ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Oct. 3, 2005), decided on Monday by the Third District. That Court is apparently exasperated by the voluminous requests for judicial notice it receives of legislative history materials:

Many attorneys apparently believe that every scrap of paper that is generated in the legislative process constitutes the proper subject of judicial notice. They are aided in this view by some professional legislative intent services. Consequently, it is not uncommon for this court to receive motions for judicial notice of documents that are tendered to the court in a form resembling a telephone book. The various documents are not segregated and no attempt is made in a memorandum of points and authorities to justify each request for judicial notice. This must stop.

Slip op. at 2. The Court went on to provide a very useful list of the kinds of legislative history materials courts may judicially notice, and the kinds of materials they may not:

Welcome!

Welcome to The UCL Practitioner's new home! I will be gradually copying all of my old archives from 17200blog.blogspot.com to this site. I've already copied all of my posts for September. Eventually this site will contain everything from the former site, and more. I will continue to host large pdf files with orders, briefs, etc. at my other site, www.17200blog.com (which is hosted by my long-suffering friend Gary).

In just a few short weeks it will be two years since I started the blog, so I think a new, clean design and a new service provider (Typepad) is a good way to celebrate. As always, thanks for reading!

Coming Soon!

Look for The UCL Practitioner coming soon to this new site.  Meanwhile, please visit the original site here.

Off-topic post: Roberts confirmation hearings

SCOTUSblog is live-blogging the hearings as we speak (or, I should say, type). That's something I'd love to be able to do for the Mervyn's and Branick arguments next year. However, the technical hurdles (not to mention the Court's rule against electronic devices in the courtroom) might make it impossible.

With sympathy for our compatriots in Louisiana

Through the grapevine, I received the following email, which originated from a law professor in the affected area:

I know your hearts, in particular, are for lawyers. Think of this...

5,000 - 6,000 lawyers (1/3 of the lawyers in Louisiana) have lost their offices, their libraries, their computers with all information thereon, their client files - possibly their clients, as one attorney who e-mailed me noted. As I mentioned before, they are scattered from Florida to Arizona and have nothing to return to. Their children's schools are gone and, optimistically, the school systems in 8 parishes/counties won't be re-opened until after December. They must re-locate their lives.

Our state supreme court is under some water - with all appellate files and evidence folders/boxes along with it. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals building is under some water - with the same effect. Right now there may only be 3-4 feet of standing water but, if you think about it, most files are kept in the basements or lower floors of courthouses. What effect will that have on the lives of citizens and lawyers throughout this state and this area of the country? And on the law?

Blog hiatus

The blog will be on hiatus until Thursday or Friday of next week. Please keep those emails coming!

Off-topic post: Initiative invalidated for November special election

This post is way off-topic, but the Court of Appeal (Third Appellate District in Sacramento) has just today invalidated Proposition 80 and declared that it will not appear on the ballot for the November 2005 special election. Independent Energy Producers Assn. v. MacPherson, ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (July 22, 2005). I've heard about at least one other court challenge to one of the initiatives, so I wonder how this bodes for the special election generally. UPDATE: I just learned that yesterday, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge threw Proposition 77 (the redistricting measure) off the ballot as well. Much more on that development at SoCalLawBlog. UPDATE: On July 27, the Supreme Court granted review and ordered Proposition 80 back on the ballot. Again, SoCalLawBlog has more.

Off-topic post: U.S. Supreme Court nomination

If you're not familiar with SCOTUSblog and its sister, the Supreme Court Nomination Blog, please visit them. The latter is buzzing this morning that "our best information is that the President will appoint [Fifth Circuit Judge] Edith Clement within the next forty-eight hours." UPDATE: The Associated Press reported within the past 15 minutes that the nomination might happen as early as this afternoon (via How Appealing). UPDATE: CNN is now reporting that D.C. Circuit Judge John Roberts, Jr. will be the nominee. The Supreme Court Nomination Blog has a similar report.

Blog page updates and new links

Over the weekend, I had time to update my lists: Prop. 64 opinions, Prop. 64 pending appeals, and Prop. 64 appellate briefs. I also updated my list of pending Supreme Court appeals involving the UCL. Finally, I added quick links in the right-hand column to the CLRA and the class action statutes (just below the Prop. 64 links). I hope you will find these useful.