The brief should have a cover sheet stating: the name of the appellate court; the case number the appellate court has assigned to the case, or a space to enter that number if it is a new case that does not have a number; the name or “style†of the case (i.e., John Smith v.
Here, then, is the primary distinction between trial and appellate courts: Whereas trial courts resolve both factual and legal disputes, appellate courts only review claims that a trial judge or jury made a legal mistake.
Some jurisdictions have specialized appellate courts, such as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which only hears appeals raised in criminal cases, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has general jurisdiction but derives most of its caseload from patent cases, on one hand, and appeals from
An appellate brief is a written legal argument presented to an appellate court. Its purpose is to persuade the higher court to uphold or reverse the trial court's decision. Briefs of this kind are therefore geared to presenting the issues involved in the case from the perspective of one side only.
Briefs should certainly contain primary authority to the extent possible, but additional material may also help the court in its analysis.
As you know, the purpose of a memo is to answer a legal question, and your role as its writer is to objectively research and predict the answer. A brief, on the other hand, is written to persuade the reader that one position on the issue is the correct one.
literally, anywhere between 15 and 150 hours. It really depends on the issue and who's doing the writing.
An appellate brief is a document submitted to an appeals court by a lawyer. It contains all the legal arguments as to why the lawyer's client should win the case. Its purpose is to persuade the judges to rule in the client's favor.
- Include your theme in the first sentence or two of the summary.
- Keep it under about 10% of the length of the actual argument.
- Limit citations.
- Don't just restate the point headings.
- Make sure to leave yourself enough time to give thought to your summary of the argument once you are done with the argument.
The Statement of Facts is a critical segment of an appellate brief. In crafting it, a writer should take a somewhat different approach from that taken when he writes a memo. The Statement of Facts should be written persuasively, consistent with the overall persuasive nature of the brief as a whole.
The Reasoning: The most important component of your case brief is the court's reasoning, or its rationale, for the holding.
Holding: The holding is the final decision the court reached. The holding is the result of applying pre-existing rules, policy, and reasoning to the case facts. It is the new “rule of the case.†Perhaps the most difficult task in framing the holding is to decide how.
The Rationale explains the court's holding and what it means as a rule of law. It cites the case law as well as the public policy that the court applied. The Rationale also explains how the court dealt with a possible contrary case.
Here are my tips for identifying those legal issues.
- Ignore the obvious. Generally, if two parties sign a written agreement with the word “Contract†on it, it's a contract.
- Look for ambiguity in the facts. Lawyers LOVE ambiguity.
- Find where the opinions disagree.
- Think about what you don't understand.
Briefs: Online Subscription Databases. Gale U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs (1832-1978) - This is the most comprehensive online resource available for U.S. Supreme Court records and briefs. Search case name, citation, or full-text. Lexis Advance - Lexis provides a good selection of recent court briefs.
This is probably the most important portion of the brief. The case will undoubtedly discuss how the facts interplay with the relevant rule(s) of law. Conclusion: What was the final outcome of the case? This should be a short statement.
