Posts tagged “Appeals and Briefs”

In addition to brief writing, the services I offer other lawyers includes editing the briefs they have written. I get to critique their writing. One of the mistakes I see from good lawyers is that they overuse the technique of placing an abbreviation of a case name, party name, or other references to things in quotes inside parentheses. You know what I mean because you do it, too. Defendant International Business Machines Corporation (hereinafter “IBM”) … In Hammond v. City of Gadsden, 493 So.2d 1374 (Ala. 1986) (“Hammond“), the Alabama Supreme Court …. Plaintiff Michael Rasmussen (hereinafter “Rasmussen”) … The Contract for Sale of Goods (hereinafter “Contract”) … But you shouldn’t. These parentheticals simply slow the reader and waste space in your brief. If you refer…

Categories: Miscellaneous, Writing Techniques

Tagged: appeal brief, Appeals and Briefs, appealsandbriefs.com, brief writing techniques, parentheticals

Make Sure to Put “Good Stuff” About Your Client in the Record.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on October 25, 2013

I have noted in many posts on this blog that an important part of appellate brief writing is storytelling, telling your client’s story to the court in a way that will keep the reader’s attention. I’ve also noted in a post about the formula for winning an appeal, found here, that the first step is getting the court to want to rule for your client. One way a trial court litigator can help the appellate attorney win on appeal is to ensure that the record contains information about the client that the appellate attorney can use to portray the client in a most favorable light, present the facts of the controversy favorably, or otherwise tell a more complete story. This is often missing in…

Categories: Writing Techniques

Tagged: Appeals and Briefs, brief writing techniques, freelance attorney, Michael Skotnicki, Record on appeal, storytelling, Trial court

Techniques Used in a Winning Appeal Brief.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on October 18, 2013

It’s now been nearly two years since leaving the Birmingham law firm where I was chair of the appellate practice group to undertake a career as a freelance appellate lawyer assisting solo practitioners and lawyers in small firms with their appeals and appellate brief writing. That’s been enough time for a number of those appeals to have been decided by the appellate courts and I’m happy to say that there have been as many appeals by appellants won as lost, which I consider a substantial success. For example, as noted in this post, recent data from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals showed that appellants were successful only 8% of the time. Although, the Alabama Supreme Court, the other appellate court in which most of…

Categories: Court Procedure, Writing Techniques

Tagged: Appeals and Briefs, appealsandbriefs.com, Appellate court, brief writing, brief writing techniques, Briefly Writing, freelance attorney, Michael Skotnicki, reversal rate

Eight Reasons Why a Solo Lawyer or Small Firm Should Outsource Appellate Briefing to a Freelance Appellate Specialist.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on May 11, 2012

Next week I plan make the first of a series of posts on the topic of brief writing using the concept of storytelling. In this strategy, the case on appeal is cast as one of the many “stock stories” found in our literature and movies that can influence the subconscious mind of the reader of the brief to reach a favorable conclusion despite certain weaknesses in the case because the reader whose mind has accepted the stock story wants the story to end favorably. Be sure and find time to follow the three or four posts it will take to explain this writing strategy. In the meantime, why not consider the reasons why you might turn for help on occasion to an experienced freelance attorney.…

Categories: Miscellaneous

Tagged: Appeals and Briefs, appealsandbriefs.com, blog, freelance attorney, Michael Skotnicki, Outsourcing

Words to Use in Effective Legal Writing: “Although.”

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on May 7, 2012

On April 18th, I published a post about using the word “but” to convey sharp contrast with a previously stated point. I referred to “but” as a “power word,” which is the name I use for words in legal writing that do a better job than similar words at conveying certain meaning. The power word I’m going to discuss in this post is “although.” “Although,” a subordinating conjunction, indicates contrast between two clauses of a sentence and attaches a subordinate clause to the main clause. In legal writing it is a power word to turn to when you need to either downplay a weakness in your own client’s argument or highlight a weakness in the opposing party’s argument. Given that a large part of…

Categories: Writing Techniques

Tagged: appeal brief, Appeals and Briefs, blog, brief writing, brief writing techniques, Ross Guberman, subordinating conjunction

Briefly Writing

Blogging about the process of writing appellate court briefs, appellate court rules, and appellate law.

Posts tagged “Appeals and Briefs”

Judges Catch On Quick. You Don’t Need Names in Parentheses.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on February 26, 2014

Make Sure to Put “Good Stuff” About Your Client in the Record.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on October 25, 2013

Techniques Used in a Winning Appeal Brief.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on October 18, 2013

Eight Reasons Why a Solo Lawyer or Small Firm Should Outsource Appellate Briefing to a Freelance Appellate Specialist.

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on May 11, 2012

Words to Use in Effective Legal Writing: “Although.”

Mike Skotnicki

Posted on May 7, 2012