She: You’re meeting my parents tomorrow night, so wear a suit. He: A suit?  I lead a rock band.  I don’t have a suit. She: Borrow one.  My parents are old school.  They want me to marry a banker or insurance executive.  So wear a suit. He:  I’ll just tell them I’m a banker.  OK?…

 There are plenty of books on the art of persuasion, going back to Aristotle.  In this column, I’ll discuss one aspect of this.  For want of a better term, I’ll call it The Art of Deep Persuasion.  Here’s the core of this concept.  Most lawyers cite authority for their arguments and leave it at that. …

Besides handling appeals, I also consult with trial lawyers before and during trial – about how to set things up for a potential appeal, either to protect a trial victory or to overturn a trial loss. Things like how to draft a special verdict form that helps lay people produce clear findings that are not inconsistent…

Most lawyers think you win appeals with erudite dissertations on the law. Not me. The law matters, but the facts matter more. When I was a kid, I used to watch a TV show called Dragnet. L.A. homicide detective Joe Friday (who never smiled) would interview a befuddled witness with this reassurance: “Just the facts,…

Lawyers often find judges’ quirks annoying.  And losing is no fun.  Plus, it’s human nature to talk yourself into the justice of your cause, and bristle when someone donning a robe doesn’t buy it.   So we all get frustrated at the bench once in a while.  How should we vent this steam?  Mostly we just…

A collection of short articles on various aspects of appellate practice (brief-writing, oral argument, etc.)