There is no good appellate brief writing. Rather, appellate brief writing is a process and the most we can hope for is good brief editing and re-writing. Appellate brief writing requires contemplating the issue in advance, framing the problem to persuade the appellate court, revisiting your own biases and assumptions, and then organizing the record and the brief to convey your argument to the Appellate Court. By necessity, this process takes time. The purpose of these articles is to share some thoughts on the appellate brief writing process.
When Charles Lamb wrote, “lawyers, I suppose, were children once,” he did not exclude appellate judges. Contrary to what some may think, appellate judges remain human. They also are smart, dedicated, and care about law and justice. So structure your briefs and oral arguments so the appellate court will want to accept your arguments, and then provide them with the facts and law to reach that result.
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