Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Thomas Bryon Cattell v. Victoria Deeks, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 24-2857 · judgment May 7, 2025
Certiorari denied · March 23, 2026
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
- Whether the Due Process Clause is violated when a trial court denies a brief continuance to a civil litigant who has lost counsel, where the denial forces a litigant to proceed alone in a complex trial, and where the court of appeals evaluates prejudice through a retrospective, outcome-based test—contrary to this Court’s prospective fairness standard in Ungar and Slappy, its structural-error doctrine in Cronic, and modern due-process requirements ensuring meaningful participation by individuals, especially those with disabilities?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Jesse Lev London
London and Paris, LLP
For respondent
Jeanne Sinnott
Wildwood Law Group, LLC
Proceedings
- Mar 23 2026Petition DENIED.
- Mar 04 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/20/2026.
- Feb 20 2026Waiver of right of respondent Garrett Welch to respond filed.
- Nov 13 2025Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 20, 2026)
- Sep 09 2025Application (25A273) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until November 13, 2025.
- Sep 05 2025Application (25A273) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from September 14, 2025 to November 13, 2025, submitted to Justice Kagan.