For the 50th anniversary of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers (CAAL), Manatt Appellate Partner Benjamin Shatz discussed the reasons for the Academy’s creation and the context of its genesis in his latest “Exceptionally Appealing” column for Daily Journal.
In the article, Shatz recounted how Ed Lascher and Gideon Kanner initiated the creation of the organization in the 1970’s when they hosted a cocktail party with a number of sitting justices who encouraged them to form the nascent group. Describing the founding fathers’ vision for CAAL, Shatz said, “The envisioned group would be kept small, to encourage frequent and easy communication, and it would take a realistic, activist, but constructive interest in matters pertaining to appellate courts and appellate lawyers.” In the wake of the Academy’s founding, the Los Angeles County Bar’s Appellate Courts Committee was formally founded in 1976, as well as the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers in 1990.
Daily Journal subscribers can read the full article here.