Oral Argument before the appellate court is an art form. It frequently happens that counsel begins the presentation by iterating the facts. And it also frequently happens that a judge on the panel will interrupt and remind the speaker that the court knows the facts and that it would be helpful to get to the law and the issues involved.

When the above happens, counsel may be somewhat flustered and unsure as to just what to say next. We remind the appellate advocate that the court comes to the argument well versed in the facts and prepared to address the issues and the law that obtains or should obtain. And so, we take this opportunity to suggest that, except in an unusual instance when the heart of the case are the facts involved and where there may be a dispute as to just what are the facts, it is almost always helpful to all concerned to move right to the issues and assume that the court knows well the facts involved in the appeal.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]