Writ relief is notoriously hard to get—90 percent of writ petitions are denied. But that, it turns out, is by design. In Omaha Indemnity Co. v. Superior Court, one of the seminal opinions on writ relief, Justice Arthur Gilbert explained “[w]rit relief, if it were granted at the drop of a hat, would interfere with an orderly administration of justice at the trial and appellate levels.” Too “lax” a view of the extraordinary nature of writs runs the “risk of fostering the delay of trials, vexing litigants and trial courts with multiple proceedings, and adding to the delay of judgment appeals pending in the appellate court.”

A writ petition is an isolated sliver of the larger litigation. The first petition in a case might be filed upon the denial of a motion to quash service. At that very early stage in the proceedings, the ultimate issues are uncertain and the final parties unknown. Even a writ petition arising much later, such as one challenging the denial of an in limine motion, does not present a complete picture to the Court of Appeal: the only brief that is before the appellate court is petitioner’s, and the only record is the set of exhibits prepared by petitioner. And a petition is “cutting in line,” jumping ahead of all the appeals waiting their turn for decision. These factors all mean that the Court of Appeal will not consider a petition unless it has a compelling reason to do so.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]