Proofreading is tedious. And no matter how many times you proofread a brief, you inevitably spot a hidden “misstate” about two seconds after you file it. If you have read
Continue Reading Consistency Is The Solution To A Gray Area (Or Is It Grey?)
On July 10, 2017, Chief Judge Wood of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a curious opinion that should serve as a reminder not only to practitioners in that
Continue Reading A Friendly Reminder About Local Rules
The Supreme Court stated in Dogwood v. White Oak, 362 N.C. 191, 657 S.E.2d 361 (2008), that noncompliance with nonjurisdictional rules normally should not lead to the dismissal of an
Continue Reading When Do Appellate Rules Violations Rise To The Level Of Jurisdictional Requirements?
Less than a year ago, we blogged on a CLE presentation by Court of Appeals Judge Rich Dietz on typography in appellate briefs. At the time, Judge Dietz urged appellate
Continue Reading Typography in Appellate Briefs: Courier Fans, It Is Time to Make the Switch of the Century
This morning, my colleague Whit Pierce forwarded me a legal writing tip from Bryan A. Garner, a well known American lawyer and lexicographer who has authored a number of
Continue Reading What’s in a Name? Compliance with a Rule Perhaps.
No tattling allowed if someone buys scalped tickets to attend this event. For the first time since the Civil War era, the Supreme Court of North Carolina is preparing a
Continue Reading Westward Bound: Supreme Court to Hold Two Sessions of Court in Morganton (Psst! A Showdown on an Important Issue of Appellate Procedure Could Occur)
When you are waiting on an decision from the North Carolina Court of Appeals, if you are like me, you anxiously scour the new opinions every other Tuesday morning. And
Continue Reading Give The Court Notice Of Additional Authority, But Not Much More
I can’t pass up the opportunity to blog about an appellate case titled Don’t Do It, [Sic] Empire, LLC v. Tenntex, COA 15-938 (Mar. 1, 2016) ([sic] in original)—especially
Continue Reading Rule 9(b)(5) Supplements and Issues Raised for the First Time On Appeal: Don’t Do It!
Your introductory research and writing class probably taught you that constitutions, statutes, and binding caselaw are primary authority. Those should be the basis of any appellate brief.
But is it
Continue Reading To Cite or Not to Cite–That Is the Question
The September 2015 ABA Journal has an interesting article by Bryan Garner on headings in appellate briefs. Garner makes a case for why the table of contents is one of
Continue Reading Is the Table of Contents the Most Important Component of a Brief?