Based on the 2017 California Court Statistics Report, the statewide median time from the notice of appeal in a civil case to the filing of the Court of Appeal’s opinion is 506 days (about 17 months), with 90% of appeals processed within 842 days (28 months). But the median times differ substantially between California’s six appellate districts, and even between divisions within districts. Currently, the fastest California appellate court is Division 5 of the Second District in Los Angeles, with a median time of 404 days to process a civil appeal from the notice of appeal to the filing of the decision. Ninety percent of all civil appeals in Division Five are processed in 622 days.
At the other end of the spectrum is currently the Sixth District in San Jose, with a median time of 731 days (a little over two years) to process a civil appeal from the notice of appeal to the filing of the decision. Ninety percent of all civil appeals in the Sixth District are processed in 1,168 days (a little over 3 years).
The complete 2017 Court Statistics can be found here.
And while we’re discussing statistics, what are your chances for success on appeal? For civil appeals terminated by a written opinion in FY 2015-16, 17% were reversed. And if you decide to seek review in the California Supreme Court, less than 4% of petitions for review were granted by the Supreme Court in 2015-16.