In his famous speech to the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, on October 22, 1940, John W. Davis, one of the great appellate advocates of the 20th century, stated: "More often than not there is in every case a cardinal point around which lesser points revolve like planets around the sun, or even as dead moons around a planet; a central fortress which if strongly held will make the loss of all the outworks immaterial."
A Democratic party nominee for president in 1924 and the solicitor general of the United States between 1913 and 1918, who argued more than 135 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, Davis knew what he was talking about. His speech should be required reading for all appellate advocates. His words are as true now as they were when he spoke them. And they go to the heart of the subject of this column: the importance of identifying a key theme, articulating it clearly and hammering it home in as many ways as possible.
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