Legal Question in Administrative Law in Arizona

Re: submitting opening brief for court of appeals

You selected the catagory of "adminstrative law" but are asking about "the court of appeals." I am unclear whether you are appealing an "administrative order" from an Administrative Law Judge, or whether you are in the regular court system. Administrative law covers state and federal agency decisions. The regular state and federal courts of appeal handle appeals from the regular state and federal court systems.

Let's cover both bases, to be sure.

Administrative cases: If you want to do the legal work yourself, you will need to call the hearings office of agency that heard the original case and ask them for instructions regarding filing rules, deadlines, etc for the appeals process. Most Arizona admin cases are held through the Office of Administrative Hearings. If it's a federal agency, the hearing probably occurred within an agency. If you want an attorney's help or advice, you need one who specialized in "Admin Law," and I'd be happy to make a referral for you if you e-mail me.

Regular Court of Appeals: If you wish to do the work yourself, call the clerk of the county court, and ask whether they have staff who can direct and assist you, and where you find the rules and deadlines for filing an appeal. Some counties do have "self-help" departments. If you want an attorney to help you, you will need an "Appellate Attorney." I will be happy to refer you to one.

For research: You can ask the hearing agency or the courts whether they have a library of relevant decisions you can read. You can also research on line at FindLaw.com and other web sites. Just do a web search for "legal research." Appeals are very different, and do not argue the original case over again. They argue that the judge in the original case made an error, so you have to find the judge's error and research that.

Regarding a "two-state" attorney, I personally don't know an attorney who is licensed in both California and Arizona, but it's not difficult to find someone licensed in another state. I'm not sure why, at the appeals stage, you would need a "two-state" attorney. Usually you only need an appellate attorney for the state in which the court proceeding is occuring. If the law involves two states, then the local attorney just finds out the law through research. Maybe you could explain to me what you think is happening, and I could get a better handle on whether you need an Arizona or California attorney.

Anyway, I hope I've been clear, given the fact that I'm not really certain what sort of help you need. Feel free to e-mail me and I will try to help you sort out the type of lawyer you need and get you a referral. I am a lawyer-mediator, and don't represent clients - I just mediate between parties who would rather mediate than go to court. Nevertheless, I'd be happy to help you sort out your referral needs. Good luck.