A great deal of folk wisdom surrounds the characteristics of a successful appellate brief. It is said that shorter briefs and fewer issues lead to greater appellate success. One of the “gurus” of legal writing recommended that issue statements not exceed 75 words. Some claim that simple, short arguments are more effective than longer ones. Many attorneys believe that an appellant who files a reply brief will be more successful than an appellant who does not. Several hypotheses arising from all this advice have been tested. The results call into question most of the folk wisdom.

The president and members of Congress have started to criticize the use of cooperating witnesses. Defense lawyers have an opportunity to identify skeptical jurors who do not believe anything that cooperating witnesses say and to mount attacks on these witnesses in every case.

Whether a lawyer has been writing appellate briefs for five years or five decades, a tune-up cannot hurt. Daniel Monnat and Paige Nichols offer 10 rules in hopes of inspiring appellate practitioners to revisit what they already know and breathe new life into their appellate briefs. Monnat and Nichols recommend that lawyers set a briefing time to avoid a last-minute panicked race against the appellate clock. Counsel should set separate deadlines for reviewing the record, researching and outlining the arguments, drafting the brief, and editing. If the writing is bad, judges will not have confidence in the substance of the brief. Moreover, the authors point out that if the lawyer’s tight, compelling brief does not comply with the appellate court’s rules, it is not going to get in the door.

Appellate Advocacy James E. Neuman

Appellate Advocacy G. Fred Metos March 2002 33   Uses and Limitations On Writs of Mandamus Occasionally, a trial court will make a ruling the result of which cannot be cured on appeal. If that ruling has a substantial effect on the litigation or on the operation of the courts as a whole, the ap

Appellate Advocacy G. Fred Metos December 2001 41 Addendum and Appendices To Your Brief Practitioners often regard an addendum or an appendix to a brief as a sort of necessary evil. They may treat the required addendum or appendix as the creation of some judge who simply wanted to make the life o

Appellate Advocacy G. Fred Metos September/October 2001 33 Resolving Interstate Detainers The Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD) provides procedures to allow inmates and prosecutors to dispose of unresolved criminal cases in an expeditious manner. The IAD is applicable only to inmates servin

Appellate Advocacy G. Fred Metos July 2001 43   Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claims and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines Federal appellate courts are restricting collateral challenges to Federal Sentencing Guideline rulings. In United States v. Daniels, 1 the Supreme Court ruled that a c

Appellate Advocacy G. Fred Metos May 2001 33 Appeals From Conditional Guilty Pleas Generally, a guilty plea waives the right to appeal any legal issues that do not involve the voluntariness of the plea or the propriety of the sentence. However, a conditional guilty plea allows a defendant to appe

Appellate Advocacy G. Fred Metos December 2000 50     Waiver of Appellate Issues and Trial Tactics The waiver of potential appellate issues may occur in several ways at the trial level. The most common form generally involves failing to raise an issue at all. In Ohler v. United States, 1 th

Appellate Advocacy G. Fred Metos October 2000 52   Failing To File the Notice of Appeal: Ethical and Constitutional Considerations Other than losing at trial, the first requirement in taking an appeal is to file a notice of appeal with the trial court. Failure to do that in a timely manner wil