Sierra Club Takes Brief Lesson to Heart

Members of the San Francisco-based Sierra Club didn’t much like a ruling out of a state appellate court three months ago, but they did heed a footnote warning to quit wasting paper.

In the club’s petition for review to the state Supreme Court, attorneys in Davis Wright Tremaine’s San Francisco office made their arguments on both sides of their sheets of paper, making for a 39-page document rather than a 78-page brief.

San Francisco’s First District Court of Appeal had pointed out in a footnote in a March decision that the nature-loving Sierra Club and some unhappy opposing members had failed to take advantage of a California rule of court allowing the use of both sides of paper if filed as a photocopy.

Lesson learned. More over, the Sierra Club’s double-sided petition was a success. On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court granted review.

The case involves whether the 750,000-member Sierra Club had the right to invoke the state’s anti-SLAPP statute in an attempt to dismiss a suit by several members angered by the results of an extremely contentious election for five of 15 seats on the club’s board.

The case is Club Members for an Honest Election v. Sierra Club, S143087.

— Mike McKee