Katyal's practice advice

Law360 offers MVP: Hogan Lovells' Neal Katyal, which includes the following:

Advice for young appellate lawyers:

“Be a good listener.”
Writing and speaking skills are essential for a successful appellate lawyer, but Katyal noted that “law schools aren’t really good at cultivating the skill of really listening hard and trying to understand where the other person is coming from.”
“Our job is to persuade,” he said. “We’re not artists ... we are advocates, and in order to be an effective advocate, you have to really understand what the argument is on the other side.”
[T]here’s more to being a skillful appellate lawyer than just mastering a cold paper record and being able to wage intellectual combat.
“I think all good appellate advocacy is actually making it real, not just your head in the clouds, but telling the story in a way that resonates with people”

Other advice today from 2/7 here: When you ask the Court of Appeal to "reverse the ruling of the Superior Court," it's not good for the appellate decision to ask "But what ruling? Nowhere does [Appellant] provide a citation to any ruling in the record, whether written or oral, that [Appellant] would have us reverse. In fact, not once in its briefs does [Appellant] identify the 'erroneous decision' it is challenging. That failure is fatal..."