In my nearly 40 years as a senior writ attorney in the California Court of Appeal, I reviewed over 10,000 writ petitions. Most civil writ petitions that crossed my desk sought reversal of pretrial civil orders. The Court of Appeal denied most summarily. However, a significant number of petitions would have been considered on their merits if only they had been timely filed. Because of the tardy filing, the Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction to consider the merits of those petitions—and in some cases, writ review was the only authorized method for an appellate challenge, meaning the issue could not later be raised on appeal.

So here are a few vital tips to avoid the dreaded deadline demon for appellate writ petitions.