Thursday, January 7, 2021

"meager" 2.5 pages isn't enough argument

Law360 reports about an unpublished affirmance by the 7th Circuit in Outed Atty's 'Deficient' Brief Costs Him Appeal In $26M Suit, in which the appellant filed a "woefully deficient" opening brief that had only 2-and-a-half pages of legal argument, did not "identify and critique the key points in the district judge’s analysis, and it fails to cite any legal authority until the final paragraph when it cites disjointed sources for an utterly irrelevant proposition." The appellee moved for a summary affirmance, but the court mercifully ("with notable forbearance") allowed an opportunity for a new brief. Yet... "Counsel passed on the chance for a fresh start, and he also did not file a reply brief." Thus, the affirmance.