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Best Practices for Civil Appeals in Division Two and an Overview of the Proposed Amendments to the Special Action Rules
Original Program Date :
Join Division Two of the Court of Appeals to learn about the appellate process, appellate advocacy and the proposed amendments to the special action rules.
Summary of Seminar:
Jurisdiction and Notices of Appeal
- Discussion of how Division Two evaluates jurisdiction in civil and family law cases
- Finality of orders in civil and family law matters
- Time-Extending Motions
Statutory Construction and Legislative History
- Best practices for making statutory construction arguments
Written and Oral Appellate Advocacy
- Tips on effective brief writing and oral advocacy
- How to request an oral argument
- Division Two’s use of draft decisions
- The use of supplemental authority at oral argument
- Citation to memorandum decisions
Proposed Amendments to the Special Action Rules
- Update from the Special Action Task Force
Overview of Division Two’s Mediation and Community Outreach Programs
Faculty:
Honorable Garye Vásquez, Chief Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Honorable Christopher Staring, Vice Chief Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Honorable Michael Kelly, 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
Crystal Brown, Staff Attorney, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Lauren Rosen, Staff Attorney, Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two
Moderators:
Crystal Brown and Lauren Rosen
Garye L Vasquez
Chief Judge Vásquez was born in Casa Grande, Arizona in 1958. He received an Associate in General Studies from Central Arizona College in 1978, a Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies from Arizona State University in 1981, and his law degree from the University of Arizona in 1984. Before his appointment to the Court of Appeals, he was in private practice in Casa Grande from 1984-2005 with the law firm Cooper, Vásquez & Rueter, LLP. During that time, he served as President of the Pinal County Bar Association, President of the Casa Grande Elementary School District Governing Board (Board Member 1996-2005), Chairman of the Commission on Salaries for Elective State Offices, and numerous other county and community boards and commissions. Judge Vásquez currently serves on the Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review. He is a former member of the Morris K. Udall Inn of Court (2014-2019). He has served on the Arizona Supreme Court Commission on Technology and the Supreme Court Special Code of Judicial Conduct Workgroup. Governor Janet Napolitano appointed him to the Court of Appeals in 2005, and he took his seat on February 1, 2006. He began serving his five-year term as Chief Judge for Division Two on July 1, 2019.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Crystal Nicole Brown-Ward
Crystal Brown-Ward has been a staff attorney at the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division II, for nearly five years. She previously clerked for Chief Judge Garye Vásquez at Division II and Judge Howard Hantman at the Pima County Superior Court. Crystal graduated from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, in May 2010 and served as the managing editor of the Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law. She also graduated from the University of Arizona in May 2006 with a bachelor of arts in political science and journalism. In her free time, Crystal enjoys spending time with her husband, their two young daughters, and their Goldendoodle puppies named London and Dublin.
Lauren Christine Rosen
Lauren Rosen became a staff attorney at Division Two in December 2023. Before that, she spent a combined five years as a law clerk to Judge Espinosa and Chief Judge Vásquez. She graduated summa cum laude and with honors in 2015 from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Studies. In 2018, she earned her law degree from the University of Arizona, summa cum laude and as a member of the Order of the Coif. She also served as the Senior Managing Editor of the Arizona Law Review. When not attending Wildcats sporting events, Lauren enjoys refereeing youth basketball and watching her three-year-old daughter chase the dogs around the backyard.
