INADMISSIBLE

One federal appellate judge is reading closely books by Justice Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner. In a footnote in Nissim Corp. v. ClearPlay Inc., Judge Jimmie Reyna of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently strongly chastised lawyers in that patent infringement case, writing, “The excessive hyperbole in the briefs makes them difficult to take seriously and unpleasant to read, and strips both parties of their credibility.”The parties characterized each other’s arguments, for example, as “moan[ing],” “absurd,” “bias-inducing screed,” “a massive waste of judicial time and resources,” “inexplicable,” “strange” and “baffling.” He said the parties would be “well advised” to heed Scalia and Garner in Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges, where they wrote: “Cultivate a tone of civility, showing that you are not blinded by passion. A straightforward recital of the facts will arouse whatever animosity the appellate court is capable of entertaining, without detracting from the appearance of calm and equanimity that you want to project.” — Marcia Coyle 

IN ‘THE NETWORK,’ TOP ATTORNEYS TELL ALL

In a Washington museum famous for its portraits of U.S. presidents and other notables, some of the nation’s top legal minds alive today are now on display.