Congratulations to Principal Attorney Mac W. Cabal for securing the holy grail of litigation practice – a trial court reversal on appeal. The case involved entry of an adverse judgment against the client. Recognizing trial court error and flawed reasoning in rendering the adverse decision, Lanak & Hanna appealed on behalf of the client.
To put this into context, the California Courts of Appeal publish data as to the number of cases they review and the ultimate decisions rendered in those cases (whether to affirm the trial court decision or reverse). The vast majority of appeals result in affirmance, meaning the appellate justices agree with the trial court judge and leave their decision undisturbed. Indeed, securing a reversal on appeal occurs on average in less than 20% of cases (and sometimes as low as 12% of cases). And the reason is clear, under the law, there is a presumption that the trial court judge was correct, thus favoring affirmance. Accordingly, Courts of Appeal generally must be persuaded of clear trial court error before reversing a sitting trial court judge.
However, in this case, Mr. Cabal recognized a number of errors in the trial court ruling. Thus, the client appealed the trial court decision. Mr. Cabal explained to the three justice panel by way of lengthy briefing and oral argument that the trial court erred in misapplying the statute of limitations period and failed to apply the correct standard of review for the subject motion resulting in an adverse judgment. The appellate justices agreed with Mr. Cabal’s logic and reasoning, finding the trial court erred, vacating the adverse judgments, and remanding the matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with the appellate court’s decision for reversal. In addition, the appellate court awarded costs in favor of the client.
Congratulations to Mr. Cabal and the client for securing this rare feat – full trial court reversal on appeal. The client now moves to recover its costs on appeal and with the adverse judgment now vacated, will move the case forward.