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Best Practices For Civil Appeals In The Newly-Expanded Division 2 (Virtual Course)
Original Program Date :


Join Division 2 of the Court of Appeals to learn about:
 

  • Appellate Jurisdiction Issues: Discussion of how Division 2 evaluates jurisdiction in civil and family law cases
  • Overview of the case processing procedure at Division 2
  • Standards of Review on Appeal
  • Written and Oral Appellate Advocacy
    • Tips on effective brief writing and oral advocacy
    • Requesting an oral argument
      • Division 2’s use of draft decisions
      • The use of supplemental authority at oral argument
      • Citation to memorandum decisions
  • Preserving the Record on Appeal
  • Requests for Attorney Fees and Costs
  • Motions to Publish
  • Division 2’s Community Outreach and Mediation Programs

 

Faculty:
Honorable Christopher Staring, Vice Chief Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Honorable Lacey Gard, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Honorable Michael Kelly, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Honorable Christopher O’Neil, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Honorable Jeffrey Sklar, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Mac McCallum, Chief Staff Attorney, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two


Moderator:

Geri Mose Mahrt, Staff Attorney, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two

Christopher Staring, Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals, Div. 2
Vice Chief Judge Staring was appointed to Division Two of the Arizona Court of Appeals in October 2015, by Governor Doug Ducey. Judge Staring graduated from the University of California at Davis in 1983, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Public Service. In 1986, he received his JD degree from Tulane University Law School, cum laude and as a member of the Order of the Coif. In 2010, he was appointed to serve as a Superior Court judge in Pima County where he presided over civil, juvenile, and probate cases. Prior to his superior court appointment, Judge Staring worked in the Tucson and Phoenix offices of Fennemore Craig P.C. Judge Staring currently serves as a member of the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct, the Committee on Juvenile Courts, and the Committee on Mental Health and the Justice System.
Lacey Alexandra Stover Gard
is a Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division Two and previously served as a Judge of the Pinal County Superior Court. Prior to her appointment, Lacey worked for 17 years at the Office of the Arizona Attorney General, serving most recently as Section Chief Counsel of the Capital Litigation Section. In that capacity, Lacey argued numerous capital cases in the state and federal appellate courts, and represented the State of Arizona in multiple post-conviction hearings. Lacey is also a former adjunct professor of legal writing at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. She began her career as a law clerk to Judge J. William Brammer, Jr., of the Arizona Court of Appeals. Lacey received her Juris Doctor from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in 2003, and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Arizona in 2000.
Michael F Kelly
Judge Kelly was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division Two, in 2022. Before his appointment, Judge Kelly was a partner at the Hollingsworth Kelly Law Firm from 2010 to 2022, where his practice focused on civil litigation and trial work. Prior to that, Judge Kelly served as a prosecuting attorney at the Pima County Attorney’s Office where he handled homicide and violent crime cases from 2004 to 2009. During his career as an attorney, Judge Kelly tried more than 100 civil and criminal jury trials. A native Tucsonan, he graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance in 2001 and then received his law degree from the University of Arizona in 2004. Judge Kelly was a longtime volunteer attorney with Step Up to Justice and served on the Board of Directors for both Southern Arizona Legal Aid and the Tucson Village Farm before his appointment to the bench. He currently serves on the Arizona Supreme Court Commission on Technology.
Christopher James O'Neil

Honorable Christopher J. O'Neil was born and raised in Casa Grande, Arizona, where he presently resides. Before his appointment to the Arizona Court of Appeals, Judge O’Neil served as the Presiding Judge of the Casa Grande City Court and later as a Judge for the Arizona Superior Court in Pinal County. He graduated magna cum laude from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, where he served as Executive Note Editor for the Arizona Law Review.

Jeffrey Louis Sklar
Judge Sklar was born in Los Angeles and moved to Tucson during grade school. He graduated from Salpointe Catholic High School, the University of Arizona, and the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. At the UA, he was editor in chief of the Arizona Daily Wildcat, and at USC, he was executive notes editor of the Southern California Law Review. After graduating law school in 2007, he returned to Arizona to clerk for Justice Scott Bales of the Arizona Supreme Court. He then began work as an associate at the Los Angeles law firm of Irell & Manella.

Judge Sklar returned to Arizona yet again in 2010, this time to work at the Tucson office of the Lewis & Roca law firm. He became a partner in 2015. He remained at the firm until 2021, when Gov. Doug Ducey appointed him to the Arizona Superior Court in Pima County. On the Superior Court, Judge Sklar served rotations on both the civil bench and family bench. In July 2022, he was appointed as presiding judge of the family bench. In that capacity, he also began serving on the statewide Family Court Improvement Committee. He remained as presiding family judge until December 2022, when Gov. Ducey appointed him to the Arizona Court of Appeals.

Judge Sklar lives in Tucson with his wife and three children.
David Hayes McCallum, Chief Staff Attorney, Arizona Court of Appeals - Division Two
Mac McCallum is the Chief Staff Attorney at Division Two of the State of Arizona Court of Appeals. He graduated from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in 2005 and served as a law clerk for Judge J. William Brammer, Jr., before joining the staff attorney team in 2010. Mr. McCallum has taught legal writing at the University of Arizona College of Law since 2011.
Geri Mose Mahrt, Staff Attorney, Arizona Court of Appeals - Division Two
is a staff attorney at Division Two of the Arizona Court of Appeals and is the Settlement Conference Attorney for the court's appellate mediation program.Before becoming an attorney, Geri was an elementary school teacher. She received her J.D. degree from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in 1987, where she was an editor on the Arizona Law Review. Upon graduation, Geri served as a law clerk for Arizona Court of Appeals Judge James D. Hathaway (deceased). She was a member of the law firm of Davis, Gugino, and Piccarreta, and the Law Office of Robert L. Gugino until she joined the Court of Appeals in 1997. Geri has taught numerous seminars on court-sponsored mediation and appellate practice. She is a native of Chicago.

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