California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District
Overview
About the Court
The California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District is one of six geographic districts of the California Courts of Appeal, the state's intermediate appellate courts, sitting between the trial-level superior courts and the California Supreme Court. It was established, along with the state's original two other appellate districts, by constitutional amendment adopted by voters on November 8, 1904. The court sits in San Francisco and is organized into five divisions, each headed by a presiding justice with associate justices.
Jurisdiction
The First Appellate District has appellate jurisdiction over twelve counties in the San Francisco Bay Area and North Coast:
- Alameda
- Contra Costa
- Del Norte
- Humboldt
- Lake
- Marin
- Mendocino
- Napa
- San Francisco
- San Mateo
- Solano
- Sonoma
What the court hears
The court hears appeals from final judgments and appealable orders of the superior courts within its district, in civil, criminal, and juvenile cases. It also exercises original jurisdiction over certain extraordinary writ proceedings, including habeas corpus, mandamus, certiorari, and prohibition, some of which may be filed directly with the Court of Appeal rather than starting in superior court.
Practicing before the court
Attorneys who are active licensees of the State Bar of California may appear before the First Appellate District, and any California Court of Appeal, without a separate application. Out-of-state attorneys who are not State Bar licensees may seek to appear pro hac vice under California Rules of Court, rule 9.40, which requires association with an active California-licensed attorney of record and satisfaction of other eligibility conditions, including good standing in another U.S. jurisdiction and the absence of California residence or a regular place of business in the state.
Attorneys
Standing Before This Court
Court admission is a credential, not a record of experience: it means an attorney may appear before the First Appellate District, not how often they have. The attorneys below hold that standing. Where a matter reaches this bench, it also means the team that built the case can carry it through appeal, rather than handing the file to counsel meeting it for the first time.
Matters
Experience Before This Court
The matters below reflect the firm's appearances before the First District. Many originated well before the notice of appeal, often carried forward by the same team that built the record. Each stands on its own facts: a record of experience before this court, not a forecast of outcomes to come.
Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict a similar outcome in any future matter. Every engagement is unique and must be evaluated on its own facts and circumstances.
Trial through appeal.
Discuss a First District Matter
An appeal reaching the First District often continues a decision shaped years earlier at trial. Where wildfire recovery is part of that record, our wildfire litigation work carries into these courts as well. We welcome the conversation.