In the novel Guy Mannering, Sir Walter Scott wrote that a “lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect.” As lawyers…
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Tessa L. Dysart
Tessa L. Dysart Blogs
Latest from Tessa L. Dysart
Third Circuit’s Proposed Filing Time Rollback Would Reduce Practitioners’ Autonomy
The Third Circuit has been in my news feed this week. Chief Judge Michael Chagares has proposed to roll back the Third Circuit Court of Appeals’ filing deadlines from 11:59 pm to 5:00 pm. The offered justification for the proposal?…
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Implicit Bias Challenged, If Not Debunked
In recent years, the concept of implicit bias – the belief that all individuals harbor unconscious biases that affect their choices and actions – has been embraced by many law schools and the American Bar Association. In fact, the ABA…
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Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, January 27
Each week, the Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup presents a few tidbits of news and Twitter posts from the past week concerning appellate advocacy. As always, if you see something during the week that you think we should be sure…
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Concrete Economics on the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has recently offered strikingly similar answers to two seemingly disparate questions. The first concerns Article III standing to bring a case in federal court: What does it mean to show a “concrete and particularized injury in fact”…
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What is Your Best Case?
“What is your best case?” That’s a question that many an appellate judge asks during oral argument. Sometimes, there is an obvious answer: Smith v. Jones holds that the very inaction of the defendant in this case constitutes a breach…
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“Read Everything” Is Good Advice at Any Stage of a Case or a Lawyer’s Career
Happy 2023. I hope the new year is going well for all of you. As I began moving my students from objective office memos to the joy of appellate brief writing this month, I used a slide titled: “Read Everything.”…
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Your Legal Writing Process
Sure, if you had years to write your legal documents (like other types of writers do), your documents would all be great. But we legal writers don’t have years to write documents. We have just weeks. Or days. Or even…
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Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, January 20, 2023
Each week, the Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup presents a few tidbits of news and Twitter posts from the past week concerning appellate advocacy. As always, if you see something during the week that you think we should be sure…
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Imitation as progress–learning to write
Oscar Wilde once said that imitation “is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Quite the backhanded compliment to the imitator. Or maybe he was trying to comfort those who had to endure cheap imitations of…
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Aristotle, Classical Rhetoric, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Happy New Year from the Appellate Advocacy Blog team. We are in the process of updating our blog team and schedule, so please be patient as we work those details out. If you are interested in joining our blog team,…
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What Law Students Should Know About Law Practice
One of the criticisms of law schools is that they do not adequately prepare students for law practice. In law school, students learn legal doctrines, acquire critical thinking, argumentation, and persuasive writing skills, master IRAC/CRAC, and participate in clinics –…
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Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, January 13
Each week, the Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup presents a few tidbits of news and Twitter posts from the past week concerning appellate advocacy. As always, if you see something during the week that you think we should be sure…
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Who Serves on the Bench Matters
As lawyers and appellate advocates, we trust that the rule of law will prevail – that there will be consequences for breaching contracts, for negligence that injures another person, and for violating constitutionally guaranteed rights. We trust that judges will…
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Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, January 6, 2023
Each week, the Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup presents a few tidbits of news and Twitter posts from the past week concerning appellate advocacy. As always, if you see something during the week that you think we should be sure…
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Taking time to reflect
For the many people following my posts, this is a follow up to last week’s suggestion to relax. Just as important as getting away from work is taking some time to reflect on it. This takes a bit of distance–hence…
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