Monday, April 18, 2016

More Myron

Myron Moskovitz has now formalized a relationship with the DJ, and will be publishing an appellate column every first and third Monday of the month.
Today's column is about oral argument. His advice: if you can't think of a good reason to orally argue a case, "you'll serve your client better by waiving it." On preparation, he advises to assume that the court will rule against you, and then to come up with responses to address why that might happen.
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Also in today's DJ, David Balabanian continues his quick "lessons learned" column on advocacy with Write Right, which has equal applicability to appellate practice. Today's tip: "doltspeak is best," meaning use short, simple language. "Unbroken, repetitive paragraphs, endless string cites and massive footnotes usually mean the author is in trouble." His past two "lessons learned" columns were Ineffective Invective (self explanatory) and The Real 'Supreme Court' about winning over opposing counsel.