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Witkin State Law Library 
The Witkin State Law Library offers an extensive collection of primary and secondary sources with a focus on California law. Primary sources dating back to the beginning of California’s statehood provides information to conduct legislative or regulatory history research. Practice guides, court briefs, and do-it-yourself legal materials aid legal professionals and people that are representing themselves in court. Our collection extends beyond California as we have materials relating to other states, federal law, as well as historical and international law.
Our librarians can assist you with your research requests, but we cannot operate as lawyers or provide you with legal advice. If you would like assistance with a legal matter or you are representing yourself in court, the California Courts Self-Help Center offers extensive information, including information on finding a lawyer.
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Oral argument in civil appeals | California Courts | Self Help Guide
Oral argument in civil appeals | California Courts | Self Help Guide

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Oral argument in civil appeals
Oral argument is your chance to further explain to the appellate court in person the arguments that you made in your brief. 

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Oral argument 
During oral argument, you can:
Clarify the points you made in your brief
Tell the appellate court what you think is most important about your arguments
Answer questions from the appellate court judges
Oral argument is not a time to restate the facts of the case or repeat parts of the brief.
The judges know what you said in your brief. Oral argument is the time to make sure that the court understands the key issues of the case by highlighting what you think is most important in your case or asking the judges if they have any questions you could answer.
If your case is in the appellate division of the superior court, you will have up to 10 minutes to present your argument (unless the court gives you more or less time).
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https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/government-links/law-library#ColumnUserControl3
Monterey Branch: 1200 Aguajito Road, Room 202, Monterey, CA 93940
(831) 264-4207
Salinas Branch: 142 West Alisal Street, Suite E-107, Salinas, CA 93901
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Oral Argument - California Appellate Courts
You would need to give the court notice in writing and tell them you want to make an oral argument. As long as you meet the deadline in the court’s notice about oral argument, the court will almost always schedule time for your oral argument.
 
 Where can I get legal help? Form APP-001 has full instructions on appeal procedures.
Each Court of Appeal has self-help resources online. You can also contact your local Court of Appeal to see if they have a self-help center at the court.
You can also visit a law library to do legal research.
The California Courts website has a lot of information about lawyers and legal help.
If you need help finding a lawyer, the California Bar Association website can connect you to a lawyer referral service in your area.
 
FORMSDocuments you will need for your case.
Oral argument in civil appeals | California Courts | Self Help Guide
Reread the other side's brief and try to think of what they will argue. Practice your response.
You should also put yourself in the shoes of the appellate court and think of questions that they might ask. You can look back to your outline to make sure you cover all of your important points since you will not get extra time, even if the judges or justices take up a lot of your time with questions.

Watch some arguments
Try to come to the court and observe oral argument before your argument date. Call the clerk's office to make sure you go on a day when there are oral arguments scheduled. Argument is open to the public so you do not need special permission to attend.

At oral argument

Usually, people will start their oral argument before the appellate court with the words "May it please the court." If you want to save some of your time to respond to the other side, then you must tell the court this immediately. Even though the appellate court cannot give you special treatment just because you do not have a lawyer, you should still tell the judges that you are self-represented.
The judges will be familiar with your case and will have already read your briefs, so you do not need to restate the facts of the case or repeat parts of the brief. It is more helpful to just highlight what you think is most important in your case or ask the judges if they have any questions you could answer. The judges may interrupt you (and the other side) to ask questions about your case and authorities (published court decisions, constitutions, statutes, court rules or other legal authorities) that you cited or should have cited.
Stay calm and respectful, even if you get frustrated or are interrupted. Whenever you are asked a question, you should stop what you are saying and answer as directly as possible. If you do not know the answer, then just say so. Also, remember that you cannot present new arguments orally unless you discussed them in your brief.

Civil appeals
What's next?

After oral argument, the judges have 90 days to make a decision.

Go back to an overview
 Get an overview of the entire appeals process.
 

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Oral Arguments | Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court publishes the full set of briefs for all cases argued before the court; most recent cases / days are listed first.

View All Briefs

WEBCAST LIBRARY

 

WEBCAST LIBRARY

The Supreme Court of California provides live and archived webcasts of Oral Arguments held throughout the year.

View All Webcasts

ORAL ARGUMENTS CALENDAR

 

ORAL ARGUMENTS CALENDAR

Updated oral argument calendars are available for download.

View Calendars

 

 COVID Adaptations: Supreme Court Videoconferencing 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court of California began hearing oral arguments using video remote technology.

Supreme Court Rolls in Video Conferencing

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Research Cases - getting_started_selfhelp
To find cases in print at your local county law library, you can use a number of tools. If you know the name of the case, you can locate a table of cases that will list the cases alphabetically and give you the book, volume, and page where the case is located. If you have the citation, you can simply find the correct set of books, pull the volume, and turn to the page.
If you are looking for cases by topic, you can use a tool known as a “digest.” Digests are indexes to case law and also a way to find cases by topic, name, or subject. Digests are organized alphabetically by subject with numbers that classify the law into topics and subtopics.
Remember, cases with published opinions are Supreme Court or appellate cases, and these are the cases you can cite as authority in your case. And you can find them online or at your county law library. Superior or trial court cases cannot be cited as authority and are not published, so you cannot get them at your library. But if there is something about a superior court case that you think is helpful to you, you can find those decisions and court records in the superior court where the case was decided and sometimes online at that superior court’s website.
Finding federal court opinions online
The federal court system includes the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Court of International Trade, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and U.S. Bankruptcy Courts.
Click for U.S. Supreme Court opinions.
The U.S. Courts of Appeals consist of 11 circuit courts in addition to the District of Columbia Circuit and the Federal Circuit. California is in the Ninth Circuit along with Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Click for information about and opinions issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. For information about the other circuits, you can go to your local public law library or use the Ask a Law Librarian service.
California is divided into four U.S. District Court jurisdictions: the Northern District, Eastern District, Central District, and Southern District.
Oral Arguments | Supreme Court of California
Oral Arguments | Supreme Court of California

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What You Will Find Here

The Court publishes full documentation of recent cases as well as upcoming oral arguments calendars. This website stores the last eight years of case information. If you're searching for cases older than eight years, or need additional assistance, please contact the Court or consult online legal databases.

BRIEFS OF ARGUED CASES

 

BRIEFS OF ARGUED CASES

The Supreme Court publishes the full set of briefs for all cases argued before the court; most recent cases / days are listed first.

View All Briefs

WEBCAST LIBRARY

 

WEBCAST LIBRARY

The Supreme Court of California provides live and archived webcasts of Oral Arguments held throughout the year.

View All Webcasts

ORAL ARGUMENTS CALENDAR

 

ORAL ARGUMENTS CALENDAR

Updated oral argument calendars are available for download.

View Calendars

 

 COVID Adaptations: Supreme Court Videoconferencing
Section 8 Housing - housing_selfhelp
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The idea for the Multilingual Online Access to Justice Initiative grew in part out of the LA Law Library’s Pro Bono Week — an annual event offering free workshops and classes to the community concerning a variety of legal topics.  The Library is a critical community resource for local, state, federal, and international law research, and we thank it for partnering with the Initiative. 
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Category : California Supreme Court 
https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/california-supreme-court-hosts-students-oral-argument
 California Supreme Court Hosts Students at Oral Argument Balassone, Merrill
Tue, 03/05/2024 - 10:58

 
 News Release
 
 
 Class was in session Tuesday at the California Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero began the oral argument session by welcoming the dozens of students seated in the San Francisco courtroom.

The students were from Sacramento's C.K. McClatchy High School and the Appellate Project Mentorship Program, a national nonprofit focused on empowering law students of color to pursue appellate work.

The California Supreme Court has previously hosted more than a dozen student outreach programs that allow students to participate in and learn from the judicial process. 

 

California Supreme Court to Hold February 6 Oral Argument Remotely
https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/california-supreme-court-hold-february-6-oral-argument-remotely
 California Supreme Court to Hold February 6 Oral Argument RemotelyBalassone, Merrill
Mon, 02/05/2024 - 13:56

 
 News Release
 
 
 The California Supreme Court has announced that due to bad weather conditions affecting California, the oral argument session on Tuesday, February 6 originally scheduled to take place at the court's Sacramento courtroom will instead occur remotely, with all justices and counsel appearing via video connection.

The oral argument calendar will remain as previously set by the court.

Oral argument will be livestreamed on the California Supreme Court website, supreme.courts.ca.gov, and on the California Courts Newsroom, newsroom.courts.ca.gov.

 

California Supreme Court Amends Rules of Court Related to State Bar of California
https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/california-supreme-court-amends-rules-court-related-state-bar-california
 California Supreme Court Amends Rules of Court Related to State Bar of CaliforniaBalassone, Merrill
Thu, 12/21/2023 - 11:51

 
 News Release
 
 
 The California Supreme Court on Wednesday approved two changes to California Rules of Court and rejected two others proposed by the State Bar of California.
Oral Argument - California Appellate Courts
Any party may pay a fee to get a copy of their oral argument recording from the court. If a party wants a written transcript of the recording, they will need to contact a transcription service.
What happens next? After oral arguments are made or waived, the Court of Appeal makes a decision.
Helpful Links
Learn more about oral argument from the California Courts
Listen to oral arguments made before the Supreme Court of California
Get a step-by-step guide on how to prepare for oral argument
Get a step-by-step guide on what to do the day of oral argument
Common Questions:

 Why do I have to tell the court in advance if I want to make an oral argument? The California Courts of Appeal are busy hearing thousands of cases every year. There are rules to keep the appeal process fair and efficient. One rule is that the courts only schedule time for oral argument when they know people want to participate.
If the court scheduled time for oral argument in every case but few people showed up, the justices would lose valuable time that they could have spent reviewing appeals and making decisions. That would slow down every appeal – including yours – in the whole court system.
 
 What happens if I do not tell the court in advance, but I still want to make an oral argument? If you do not tell the Court of Appeal that you want to make an oral argument, the court will assume you do not want to participate. If this happens you will lose your chance to have oral argument unless the other side requests oral argument. If the other side requests oral argument and you do not, you may still participate in oral argument if you filed a brief.
If you want to make an oral argument, the only way to guarantee you have the opportunity is to respond by the deadline in the court’s notice and go to the court on the day of oral argument for your case. There are no exceptions and no extensions for more time. After the time for oral argument passes, the court moves on to make a decision on your appeal.
 
 Can I talk about what’s in my brief or not? Yes, you can talk about things that are in your brief. But you should not read directly from the brief.