Appellate Practice
May 17, 2016
Appellate oral arguments should stress justice, not case law
The best appellate oral argument themes are short, powerful ideas that sum up the justice of the cause and hit the judges in the guts.
Myron Moskovitz
Legal Director
Moskovitz Appellate Team
90 Crocker Ave
Piedmont , CA 94611-3823
Phone: (510) 384-0354
Email: myronmoskovitz@gmail.com
UC Berkeley SOL Boalt Hal
Myron Moskovitz is author of Strategies On Appeal (CEB, 2021; digital: ceb.com; print: https://store.ceb.com/strategies-on-appeal-2) and Winning An Appeal (5th ed., Carolina Academic Press). He is Director of Moskovitz Appellate Team, a group of former appellate judges and appellate research attorneys who handle and consult on appeals and writs. See MoskovitzAppellateTeam.com. The Daily Journal designated Moskovitz Appellate Team as one of California's top boutique law firms. Myron can be contacted at myronmoskovitz@gmail.com or (510) 384-0354. Prior "Moskovitz On Appeal" columns can be found at http://moskovitzappellateteam.com/blog.
MOSKOVITZ ON APPEALS
In a recent column, I opined that most lawyers use appellate oral argument to repeat what's in their briefs - and this is usually a waste of time, a waste of the client's money, and a wasted opportunity. The judges have already read your briefs. Those arguments either worked or they didn't. If they did, you already won. If they didn't, repeating them orally is unlikely to change ...
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