Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

You cannot appeal a ruling on a motion for summary judgment, unless the motion ends the case in the trial court. Your remedy in a case where there is no judgment is to file a petition for a writ of mandate, asking the Court of Appeal to order the trial court to do something (reconsider the motion, enter a different order, et cetera).

The petition for writ is discretionary with the Court of Appeal. They can refuse to decide it on the merits for whatever reason they like -- or no reason at all. Most petitions for writ are summarily denied, without any consideration of the merits. They also involve a lot of work.

Let me see if I understand what you want to do here. The court denied defendant's motion for summary judgment, which means you won, and you want to appeal it? The decision is in your favor, go celebrate.

Most orders are not appealable. They can be challenged on appeal later, but only after the case has run its course in the trial court.

A party who wants to challenge a non-appealable order without waiting that long can petition the Court of Appeal to issue a writ directing the trial court to change it. The Court of Appeal does not have to rule on the merits of a writ petition, and it usually won't. Something like 95% of them are denied summarily. You would need to show both that the trial court made a serious mistake and that you would suffer irreparable harm if you could not have it reviewed quickly.

If your trial court was wrong about the punitive damages claim, then you have at least a plausible basis for writ relief. After all, even if you win at trial, you would still need to as the Court of Appeal to let you seek punitive damages. If your appeal succeeds, you would need a second trial (on just that part of the case). The risk of having two trials sometimes persuades the Court of Appeal to grant a writ. But you should not get your hopes up.

Also, you will need to act quickly. Different types of writ petitions have different time limits. Many have no formal limit, but even there the appellate court will hold any delay against you.

A writ petition is a very different type of project from a motion in the trial court. You should get a lawyer to help you if at all possible. Feel free to contact me directly if you like. I am a certified appellate specialist (per the State Bar of California's Board of Legal Specialization) with 20 years of relevant experience. Good luck.