It is surprising to me every time, but in my  practice of appellate law, I’ve been asked by lawyers whether it was really necessary to file an Appellant’s Reply Brief. My short answer is, “Only if you want to win.” There can be legitimate reasons why an otherwise intelligent lawyer would consider not filing a reply brief. Perhaps his or her workload is too heavy to prepare a reply brief, or perhaps the client is complaining about cost or the case is on a contingency fee and there is a concern about cost efficiency. Again, the only question to ask is,”Do you really want to win?” Let’s consider the problems that can arise if an Appellant’s Reply Brief  is not filed. Obviously, without a reply…