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James Acres v. Lester Marston, et al.

Paid petition · Court of Appeal of California, Third Appellate District, No. C089344 · judgment December 10, 2021

Certiorari denied · October 3, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

In Lewis v. Clarke 137 S.Ct. 1285 (2017) this Court explained tribal officials sued in their personal capacities could avail themselves of personal immunity defenses. But Lewis did not address the nature of the personal immunities available to tribal officials. Below, a California Court of Appeal synthesized Lewis and California common law to hold absolute prosecutorial immunity protects the conduct of attorneys pursuing civil litigation on behalf of a tribal commercial enterprise. While the result flows naturally from California’s commonlaw, it is anathema to this Court’s absolute immunity jurisprudence. The question presented is: What personal immunities are available to tribal officials?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Ronald Howard Blumberg
Blumberg Law Group, LLP

For respondent
Jerome Nathan Lerch
Lerch Sturmer LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 03 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jul 27 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2022.
  3. Jun 30 2022
    Waiver of right of respondent Boutin Jones Inc., Michael Chase, Daniel Stouder & Amy O'Neill to respond filed.
    Main Document
  4. Jun 30 2022
    Brief of Boutin Jones Inc., Michael Chase, Daniel Stouder & Amy O'Neill in opposition not accepted for filing. (July 13, 2022 - filing was resubmitted as a waiver to respond)
  5. Jun 20 2022
    Waiver of right of respondents Janssen Malloy, LLP; Megan Yarnall; and Amelia Burroughs to respond filed.
    Main Document
  6. Jun 17 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 25, 2022.
  7. Jun 16 2022
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from June 23, 2022 to July 25, 2022, submitted to The Clerk.
    Main Document
  8. May 20 2022
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 23, 2022)
    PetitionProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count