Opinion ID: 2630864
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Stay Request

Text: ¶ 9 Smith requested that this court stay the effect of the court of appeals' order finding that he had not properly appealed his case. See ARCAP 7(c) (authorizing court to enter a stay to preserve the status quo pending review of a case). While this court has not had occasion to set forth the analytical framework for evaluating requests for stays in the appellate context, Arizona courts have applied to such stay requests the traditional criteria for the issuance of preliminary injunctions, see Shoen v. Shoen, 167 Ariz. 58, 63, 804 P.2d 787, 792 (App.1991) (preliminary injunction standards); Burton v. Celentano, 134 Ariz. 594, 595, 658 P.2d 247, 248 (App. 1982) (same), as did the appellate court and the parties in this case. We find the construct useful and therefore adopt it. ¶ 10 A party seeking a stay on appeal must thus establish the following elements: 1. a strong likelihood of success on the merits; 2. irreparable harm if the stay is not granted; 3. that the harm to the requesting party outweighs the harm to the party opposing the stay; and 4. that public policy favors the granting of the stay. See Shoen, 167 Ariz. at 63, 804 P.2d at 792; Burton, 134 Ariz. at 595, 658 P.2d at 248. The scale is not absolute, but sliding. Nor should the result turn on counting the factors that weigh on each side of the balance. Rather, the moving party may establish either 1) probable success on the merits and the possibility of irreparable injury; or 2) the presence of serious questions and [that] `the balance of hardships tip[s] sharply' in favor of the moving party. Shoen, 167 Ariz. at 63, 804 P.2d at 792 (quoting Justice v. Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Ass'n, 577 F.Supp. 356, 363 (D.Ariz.1983)). The greater and less reparable the harm, the less the showing of a strong likelihood of success on the merits need be. Conversely, if the likelihood of success on the merits is weak, the showing of irreparable harm must be stronger. ¶ 11 We applied these criteria to Smith's request for a stay. Because we concluded, for the reasons set forth below, that Smith would not succeed on his claims and that the judgment of the superior court should be affirmed, we denied his stay request.