Along with changes to the federal civil procedure and bankruptcy rules, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure will likely see a significant change in less than a month. Unless Congress
Continue Reading Upcoming Changes to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure
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?
Last week the North Carolina Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal based on what it described as “substantial noncompliance” with the appellate rules. The dismissal in Smith v. North Carolina
Continue Reading Dismissal After Diligent (but Failed) Attempt to Get Transcript
Confession: until today, I did not realize there was a divide. When making the possessive of a singular noun ending in s, I always added the extra s after
Continue Reading Jones’s Punctuation Confession
When it comes to briefing, we know we should be accurate, clear, and concise (and persuasive, of course). For many of us, brevity is the real challenge—a challenge word limitations
Continue Reading A Potential Pitfall of Incorporating by Reference
Under the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure, an appellant’s brief must contain “a concise statement of the applicable standard(s) of review for each issue.” N.C. R. App. P. 28(b)(6).
Continue Reading Reviewing the Standard of Review
Judges repeatedly tell us that the brief is our best vehicle to explain our view of the case and why the law is in our client’s favor. Unfortunately, it is
Continue Reading A Few “Brief” Points
This week’s opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals offered several helpful reminders for appellate practitioners. First, don’t forget to include all required parts of the record on appeal—including
Continue Reading Appellate Rules Only Apply to Appeals
The North Carolina Court of Appeals released several opinions today that dealt with insufficient (or missing) briefs. These decisions provide several good reminders to appellate practitioners of the importance of
Continue Reading A Brief Primer on Briefs