Third District Court of Appeal Returns to King Hall

Earlier this week, UC Davis School of Law had the pleasure of hosting a special session of the California Third District Court of Appeal.  It was quite an honor to host the court, its staff, counsel, and special guests in the Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom. In that room, we previously hosted the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court, and the Third District Court of Appeal, as well as the debate between California Attorney General candidates Kamala Harris and Steve Cooley in 2010. 

The three justices hearing arguments were all longtime friends of UC Davis School of Law. Two of them, Justices Kathleen Butz `81 and Louis Mauro `87, are King Hall alumni. The third, Justice William Murray, is also well-known to our community as a frequent speaker, visitor, and good friend of King Hall. 

A full house heard oral arguments in two fascinating cases, one a negligence case and the other involving grand juries.  It truly was an incredible educational experience for students and faculty.  Our students heard oral arguments in real time, real-life cases before real justices.

After the arguments concluded, the three justices were joined by Justices Ron Robie and Andrea Hoch and took questions from students.  We learned much about the oral argument and opinion drafting practices in the Third District.

Our time with the justices concluded with a lunch with several law faculty members, including Carlton Larson, Jasmine Harris, Floyd Feeney,  Madhavi Sunder, Rick Frank, and Ed Imwinkelried.  We had a free-ranging discussion about issues in the court system, from electronic filing, the use of law clerks, and the opinion drafting process.  I also had the opportunity to tell the justices about all the fine work of the faculty, students, and staff at King Hall.