Bilyeu

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

We have had to reconstruct what happened in this case with no help from appellants’ counsel, who supports 12 pages of facts in her opening brief with a single, bulk citation to over 1,100 pages of record. This is a gross violation of the California Rules of Court, which require specific citations to the record rather than a single, useless cite that effectively says, “See Record.” (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.204(a)(1)(C).) What is more, this is not counsel’s first such transgression.1 Although we are empowered to strike appellants’ entire brief on this basis (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.276(a)(4); City of Lincoln v. Barringer (2002) 102 Cal.App.4th 1211, 1237, 1240), we will not penalize appellants for the intransigence of their attorney and will proceed to hear the merits of the appeal.

By our count, it is her ninth within the Second Appellate District alone. (See Baez v. Burbank Unified Sch. Dist. (Jan. 25, 2016, B254852) [nonpub. opn.]; Baez v. Burbank Unified Sch. Dist. (May 7, 2012, B219581) [nonpub. opn.]; Bilyeu v. Cowgill (July 20, 2011, B213939) [nonpub. opn.]; Baez v. Superior Court (Dec. 22, 2008, B208294) [nonpub. opn.];…