U.S. Affiliated v. Davis CA2/2

DISCUSSION

The major problem with James’s appeal lies in his opening brief. As another court observed in describing a similarly inadequate brief, “[i]ndeed, this document is strongly reminiscent of those magazine puzzles of yesteryear where the reader was challenged to ‘guess what is wrong with this picture.’” (People v. Dougherty (1982) 138 Cal.App.3d 278, 280.) James seems to argue that A-United lacked standing to appear in this action because Brenda’s assignment to A-United was somehow invalid. But James does not explain how A-United lacked standing. While James asserts that Brenda could revoke A- United’s standing at any time, he offers no legal authority or record citations in support. It follows that this argument is forfeited on appeal. (Benach v. County of Los Angeles (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 836, 852 [appellant bears the burden of supporting a point with reasoned argument]; County of Sacramento v. Lackner (1979) 97 Cal.App.3d 576, 591 [appellant must present argument on each point made]; Guthrey v. State of California (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 1108, 1115 [appellate court is not required to make an independent, unassisted search of the appellate record].) The appellate record…