Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in California

Re: What is a writ?

There are many different forms of a writ. In a nutshell, a writ is an order from a higher court to a lower court directing them to do (or not do) something. They can happen at any stage of a case if emergency intervention is necessary.

It differs from an appeal - in general, they are post-trial proceedings asking for a review of a lower court's rulings or a case.

For example - I just filed, argued and won a writ of mandamus/writ of prohibition in a case where I felt the judge at arraignment overstepped their authority to make an order regarding my client's professional license. The writ was filed within 5 days and because of the urgency and the request for immediate review, the appellate court granted my motion, issuing a ruling that directed the lower court to vacate or take back their ruling against my client.

Re: What is a writ?

There are several different kinds of writs, not all of which are brought in the Court of Appeal. Types which are most commonly sought from the appellate courts are writs of prohibition, mandate and habeas corpus. Prohibition and mandate used to be quite distinct, but they no longer are. Petitions which seek one usually also asked for the other in case the court disagrees with the petitioner about which is more appropriate.

Writs of prohibition or mandate are orders from a higher court directing a lower court to change an order it has made or to make an order it has refused to make. Writs of habeas corpus are orders that the government justify holding the petitioner in custody.

The difference between a writ petition and an appeal is a bit subtle. Not every order that a trial court makes can be appealed; a party who feels wronged by a non-appealable order can only get it reviewed by asking the Court of Appeal to issue a writ. A typical writ petition thus asks the Court of Appeal to intervene in an ongoing case rather than waiting to review it after the case has ended.

In order to justify this type of intervention, the petitioner must show not only that the trial court has made a mistake but also that the mistake will cause substantial harm which could not be remedied by a regular appeal in the future. For example, if the trial court orders a defendant to reveal trade secrets so the plaintiff can use them to prepare for trial, the secrets would already have been disclosed by the time an appeal could be filed. Because an appeal could not undo that harm, a writ petition would be the appropriate means of seeking review.

What I have written is a gross oversimplification of a very complex process. I hope it is sufficient for your purposes.