The preliminary statement, or introduction, is among the most critical parts of a brief. Indeed, the preliminary statement affords you the opportunity to concisely and persuasively explain why you should win, and thus make an excellent first impression on the…
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Tessa L. Dysart Blogs
Latest from Tessa L. Dysart
When Is a Judge Unfit, and What Can be Done About It?
The controversy surrounding Judge Pauline Newman of the Federal Circuit raises an interesting question for appellate advocates. Judge Newman, age 95 and appointed by President Reagan in 1984, was asked to step down by the circuit’s chief judge but declined…
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On Deadlines
On Tuesday, May 2, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit amended its local rules to create a uniform filing deadline of 5 pm eastern time. Robert recently posted about the change. The Third Circuit gives several…
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Should I include a stand-alone “introduction” section in my brief?
I was recently discussing persuasive writing with an appellate attorney, and he mentioned how important he believed the “introduction” section of the brief was. He wasn’t talking about an introductory paragraph to the argument; he meant an entirely independent, stand-alone…
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Giving your law clerks an awesome experience
Recently I traveled to a neighboring state to talk to state appellate judges about maximizing their law clerks’ experience. This invitation stemmed in part from my recent book, The Short & Happy Guide to Judicial Clerkships. While that book largely…
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To Burn the Midnight Oil . . . or Not
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit adopted a rule that requires filings be submitted by 5 pm on the due date, rather than any time before midnight that day as part of an effort to…
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Legal Communication and Rhetoric: JALWD Turns 20
The journal, Legal Communication and Rhetoric: JALWD, (formerly the Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors) will publish its twentieth volume this year. The journal has this mission statement: The journal is dedicated to encouraging and publishing scholarship (1)…
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Succeeding in the 1L Year
Recently, several of my undergraduate students who are attending law school next semester expressed anxiety and uncertainty about the first year. Certainly, these feelings are normal and shared by many incoming first-year law students. But this need not be the…
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Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, April 28, 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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Writing like Justice Kagan, Part IV
Justice Kagan’s opinions are such target–rich environments for good techniques that I keep coming back. A few more I noticed in the past couple of weeks:
18. Change the grammatical structure mid-stream.
Rhetoriticians call this technique “anacolouthon” (from the Greek meaning “it does not follow”), in which the author/speaker interrupts herself and changes the grammatical structure of a sentence part way through. It is useful to emphasize something through an aside or exclamation:
“And if all that leaves the tiniest doubt—well, still we are not done.” Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, 598 U.S. 39, 55 n.
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Imagining the Appeal if the Dominion v. Fox News Case Had Gone to Trial
The highly anticipated trial of Dominion Voting System’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News evaporated on the cusp of trial with a settlement. As a result, we can only speculate about what an appeal might have looked like – but that…
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Comments Against Angel Reese Call Us to Check for Bias in Our Writing
As I’ve mentioned before, I was lucky enough to teach a seminar on bias in legal analysis and writing this semester. Much of the class focused on implicit bias and the way we can use words as lawyers to help…
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When is an appellate decision not precedent?
When is an opinion of an appellate court not precedent? The answer to that question largely depends on the jurisdiction. In a recent opinion, the North Carolina Supreme Court brought forth another related question: when can the highest appellate court…
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Demeanor in the virtual courtroom
The United States Supreme Court provides counsel with a “Guide for Counsel in Cases to be Argued Before the Supreme Court of the United States.” In that guide, counsel can learn how they should dress (conservative business dress in traditional…
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The Journal of Appellate Practice & Process is now accepting articles
The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process is now accepting articles for its Winter 2024 issue, which is set to be published in January/February 2024. For submission guidelines and to submit an article, please visit here. We tend to favor…
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Why Paul Clement Is So Good
Attorney Paul Clement is among the best attorneys – and oral advocates – in the United States. And for good reason. His oral advocacy skills are second to none. In fact, listening to even one of Paul Clement’s arguments before…
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