We have recently had the opportunity to explore and recalibrate some of the standard principles of skilled appellate oral advocacy. Saxe & Catterson, "Some Thoughts on Oral Advocacy: Some Old, Some New," NYLJ (Jan. 18, 2022). Much of what we wrote about involved courtroom presentations in which appellate counsel had sufficient time to prepare a cogent argument, albeit one occasionally peppered with questions from the panel members.

Our purpose here is to explore the oral presentation, especially from the vantage point of inquiries from the panel. Sometimes the questions are a seamless and welcome part of the oral argument and may lead to the advocate's success by demonstrating that the panel is deeply involved with the argument being made.

Sometimes, however, before you can even utter a word beyond even "Good afternoon, Your Honor, my name is …," you are bombarded with questions, sometimes even simultaneously from members of the panel. Most of the time the questions are straight forward that hew to the issues in your appeal, but occasionally, some unfriendly, even what you may consider hostile questions may arise that seem to be designed to set you back. How can you be prepared to respond to the frequently asked questions that you should be able to swat away? And, how should you respond to the unexpected ones—the questions that can rock you to the core—if you are unprepared?