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Issues and Appeals | [email protected] | Ext. #143

Wendy Lascher, a State Bar Certified Specialist in Appellate Law and AV-rated attorney, handles civil and criminal appeals in state and federal courts. She also assists trial lawyers with formulating strategy and crafting motions. Before joining FCOP, Wendy spent 37 years with Lascher & Lascher and has argued appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, the U.S. Seventh and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, all six districts of the California Court of Appeal and in U.S. District Courts.

Active in the appellate legal community, Wendy is a member and past president of both the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. She has also served as chair of the State Bar’s Committee on Appellate Courts, chair of the Appellate Law Advisory Commission of the Board of Legal Specialization and President of the Ventura County Bar Association.

In her spare time, Wendy teaches at the Ventura and Santa Barbara Colleges of Law, is a mentor in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program and enjoys hiking, gardening and working out. Wendy has three sons and two granddaughters.

Education:

• J.D., University of Michigan Law School, 1973
• B.A., Stanford University, Political Science, with distinction, 1970

Practice Groups:

Issues and Appeals

Admissions:

• State Bar of California, 1973
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• United States District Court for the Central District of California
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of California

Specializations:

Appellate Law, California Board of Legal Specialization

Professional Affiliations and Honors:

• “Super Lawyer”, Los Angeles Magazine (2007-2012)
• “Top 100 Southern California Super Lawyers,” Los Angeles Magazine (2007-2008)
• “Top 50 Women Southern California Super Lawyers,” Los Angeles Magazine (2007)
• California Association of Certified Appellate Law Specialists (Member)
• AV Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating
• Citations (Editor and Columnist)
• American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (President-2011)
• American Inns of Court (Member; former Board Member)
• California Academy of Appellate Lawyers (Member and Past President)
• Ventura Center for Dispute Settlement (Founding Director)
• Ventura and Santa Barbara Colleges of Law (Instructor and Past President, Board of Trustees)
• Ventura County Bar Association (Past President, Past Member of Executive Committee, Past Chair of Judicial Evaluation Committee)
• Ventura County Community Foundation (Board Member, 2001-2006)
• Ventura County General Hospital (Institutional Review Committee Member, 1992-2011)
• Ventura County Trial Lawyers (Board Member, 2001-2002)
• 2005 National Conference on Appellate Justice (Member, Steering Committee)
• State Bar of California, Appellate Law Advisory Commission (Member, 1994-1998)
• California Litigation (Editorial Board, 1993-1996)
• Lecturer, California Continuing Education of the Bar
• Lecturer, Hastings Litigation Advocacy Program
• Lecturer, Santa Barbara College of Law
• Lecturer, Ventura College of Law

Noteworthy Matters:

• Proctor v. California (1992) 4 Cal.4th 499; aff’d sub nom. Tuilaepa v. California (1994) 512 U.S. 967, 129 L.Ed.2d 750, 1994 U.S. LEXIS 5084, 114 S. Ct. 2630. Argued death penalty case to the United States Supreme Court.
• Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co. (2009) U.S., 173 L.Ed.2d 1208, 129 S.Ct. 2252. Principal author of amicus curiae brief on behalf of American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
• Alan v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (2007) 40 Cal.4th 894 (authored amicus brief for California Academy of Appellate Lawyers). Holds that time to appeal does not start to run until trial court serves a single document satisfying rules of court.
• In re Marriage of Pendleton and Fireman (2000) 24 Cal.4th 39; 5 P.3d 839. First California case to hold spouses may waive spousal support in a properly drafted prenuptial agreement.
• Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara (1994) 7 Cal.4th 725; 872 P.2d 143. Clarifies appealability of judgments on separately tried issues; upholds judgment invalidating zoning ordinance on preemption grounds.
• Rich v. Thatcher (2011) 200 Cal.App.4th 1176.  Establishes clear and convincing evidence is necessary in grandparent visitation cases to overcome presumption that a fit parent acts in child’s best interest.
• Theiler v. Ventura County Community College Dist. (2011) 198 Cal.App.4th 852. Confirms proper calculation methodology for determining full-time equivalent calculations for community college faculty.
• County of Kern v. Jadwin (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 65. Upholds judgment on arbitration award based on finding county’s False Claims Act claim was filed to harass former employee.
• In re Corona (2008) 160 Cal.App.4th 315. Paroled sex offender could not be required to waive the psychotherapist-patient privilege as to his privately retained psychotherapist.
• Department of California Highway Patrol v. Superior Court (2008) 158 Cal.App.4th 726. Establishes that violations of Motorcycle Helmet Law are correctable citations, though not for the specific client before the court.
• Estate of Burden (2007) 146 Cal.App.4th 1021; 53 Cal.Rptr. 3d 390. Holds that father’s statements during his lifetime about identity of his son meets test of “openly hold[ing] out” child as one’s own for purposes of Probate Code §6453’s definition of “natural parent.”
• Airport Ranch Co. v. Beserra (2011, unpublished). Affirms injunction requiring removal of illegal rock groin and dirt berm from Santa Clara River.

Community Involvement:

• Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Ventura County (Mentor, 2008 to present)
• Ventura County Hash House Harriers (Member, 1992 to present)
• First National Bank of Ventura (Member, Board of Directors, 1992-2000)
• Channel Counties Legal Services (Member, Board of Directors, 1993-1996)
• KCLU (Advisory Board Member, 1996-1998)
• Planned Parenthood Ventura Advisory Council (Member, 1990-1996)

Publications:

• “Becoming An Accidental Big Sister,” GPSolo (American Bar Association, January/February 2012), vol. 29, no. 1.
• “Arbitration after Burlage,” (Citations, March 2010)
• “The Complete Appeal Conference: Strategies from Start to Finish,” (Panelist, Pincus Professional Education, 2009)
• “Putting City of Hope v. Genentech in Context,” (Speaker, Intellectual Property Section, Santa Barbara County Bar Association, 2008)
• “Staying Judgments on Appeal,” (California Litigation, 2008)
• “Judgments and Statements of Decision,” (Speaker, Ventura County Business Trial Lawyers, 2008)
• “Winning Your Appeal at the Trial Court Level,” (Panelist, Pincus Professional Education, 2007)
• “90 Days Between Judgment and Appeal,” (Panelist, Pincus Professional Education, 2007)
• “The Right Stuff for Appellate Lawyers: How to Avoid Going over the Ethical Edge,” (Panelist, State Bar of California, October 2006)
• “Developments After Rojas,” (Speaker, Ventura Center for Dispute Settlement, January 2006)
• “The Nuts and Bolts of Filing an Appeal,” (Speaker, Kern County Bar Association, April 2005)
• “Appeals, What Every Young Lawyer Should Know,” (Speaker, State Bar Conference, 2002)
• “Babylonic Cuneiform and the Mysteries of the Writ,” (California Litigation, Vol. 16, No. 3)
• “Hearing and Decision on Appeal,” Vol. 5, Ch. 51, Matthew-Bender, California Forms of Pleading and Practice