Anglican Curmudgeon: Arguments in San Joaquin

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Oral argument was held in the San Joaquin litigation today. There were three matters before the court, of which only two were significant - the motion for summary adjudication by Bishop Lamb, the plaintiff "Diocese of San Joaquin", and ECUSA; and their demurrers to Bishop Schofield's cross-complaint, which seeks reimbursement for the expenses (including legal fees) he has had to incur in defending against their main lawsuit.

Arguments began a little after 3:30 p.m., and did not conclude until a little after 5:00 p.m. In between, the court had to hear some other matters, and so in the final analysis, the court heard about an hour of argument on the motion for summary adjudication, and about twenty or so minutes on the demurrers. After it was all over, Judge Corona thanked counsel for their presentations, and took the matter under submission.

There are normally two kinds of outcome to this kind of oral argument after a tentative ruling. In the first, the judge listens politely to all the parties, lets them have their say, and then issues an order affirming his tentative ruling a day or so later---he scarcely changes a thing. the rest