"Appellate Justice works to assist veterans"

That's the title of today's DJ story about 4/3's Justice Eileen Moore, "who served as a combat nurse during the Vietnam War, achieving the rank of second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps." "Moore created the Veterans Working Group, a subcommittee of the Judicial Council's Collaborative Courts Advisory Committee. The group's first achievement was to secure approval for the creation of a form, MIL-100, Notification of Military Status, approved for use in California courts in 2012 to identify veterans and members of the military." "[T]he working group also created a one-page protocol for trial judges who have women veterans in their courts to use, with information about what judges should know about MST [Military Sexual Trauma]."

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Also in today's DJ is the Moskovitz on Appeals column, titled Timing Is Everything, Briefs Included, about how best to structure a brief a provide context for arguments. He proposes two sorts of introductions. Type 1 includes no argument, but instead tells the court what issues are to provide context for the facts and law that follows. Type 2 is a mini-brief, that summaries the facts, the law, and the policy reasons for the advocated result. He uses Type 2 "only rarely." Another timing flaw in briefs is that sometimes the most persuasive argument comes only near the end of the brief. "Make that argument early and often ... even if it seems out of of chronological order."

In the NLJ, Connecticut Appellate Court judge Douglas Lavine presents Why Less is Better--Even for Lawyers: Why are attorneys so verbose? One theory--gasp--we think we are more eloquent than we are. Ten tips: 1. Keep it simple; 2. Avoid long quotations; 3. Do hold back--sometimes; 4. Know your crowd; 5. Edit ruthlessly; 6. Don't get jammed up by jargon; 7. Resist temptation; 8. Get your kids to listen; 9. Hone in your arguments; 10. "Know when to fold 'em."

Law360 reports King & Spalding Nabs Appellate Pro From US Atty's Office about Anne Voigts joining K&S. Anne is the lead editor of the Appellate Lawyer Reps' Ninth Circuit Practice Guide.