Appellate Brief Assignment Forum
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Appellate Brief Assignment
Any advice on researching and writing the appellate brief? Main issues are Fourth Amendment and Eyewitness Identification
- encore1101
- Posts: 826
- Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2013 10:13 am
Re: Appellate Brief Assignment
Appellate briefs are meant to be persuasive. Whether you're the government or the defendant, highlight the facts you want the court to notice but don't distort the record.
Don't be afraid to address cases that are similar to yours. The age-old maxim "When the facts are against you, argue the law; when the law is against you, argue the facts. If both are against you, just argue" comes into play. If you run into a case that's similar to yours, chances are the other side will too. You need to point out why they're distinguishable and refer the court to cases that are (in your argument) more similar to your facts.
edit: for 1L writing class?
Don't be afraid to address cases that are similar to yours. The age-old maxim "When the facts are against you, argue the law; when the law is against you, argue the facts. If both are against you, just argue" comes into play. If you run into a case that's similar to yours, chances are the other side will too. You need to point out why they're distinguishable and refer the court to cases that are (in your argument) more similar to your facts.
edit: for 1L writing class?
- bretby
- Posts: 452
- Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2014 5:15 pm
Re: Appellate Brief Assignment
Just do what your professor tells you to do. If you're confused, ask the TA. Legal writing is so idiosyncratic and varies so much from school to school that advice on a board like this will be useless.lawstudent2814977025 wrote:Any advice on researching and writing the appellate brief? Main issues are Fourth Amendment and Eyewitness Identification
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Re: Appellate Brief Assignment
Develop a theme and use descriptive headings.
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- Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2018 4:44 pm
Re: Appellate Brief Assignment
Yes! Last major assignment.encore1101 wrote:Appellate briefs are meant to be persuasive. Whether you're the government or the defendant, highlight the facts you want the court to notice but don't distort the record.
Don't be afraid to address cases that are similar to yours. The age-old maxim "When the facts are against you, argue the law; when the law is against you, argue the facts. If both are against you, just argue" comes into play. If you run into a case that's similar to yours, chances are the other side will too. You need to point out why they're distinguishable and refer the court to cases that are (in your argument) more similar to your facts.
edit: for 1L writing class?
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