Monday, August 3, 2020

"Chin up!"

That's the creative title for Gilbert Submits in today's DJ, about Justice Chin's retirement.
"Mention the name Justice Chin and one immediately thinks of his civility, collegiality and humor. He is down to earth and has no sense of self-importance, but he does have a keen sense of the importance of his work. His well-written opinions reflect a fair and objective exposition of the law. He reflects everything we expect from a judge -- humanity, objectivity, and professionalism."

Today's Moskovitz on Appeals in the DJ is titled Creative Brief Writing, and makes the point that there's room for creativity in organizing briefs. An example is to ditch the common practice of presenting all the facts from A to Z in chron order at the start of a brief if it makes sense instead to structure the brief differently given the arguments to be made. In short,  "If I think it will help the reader, that's what I want to do. I then look to see if any rule stops me from doing it that way. (I don't need a rule that allows me to do it.) If no rule stops me, I do it. Not always. If my idea goes against some very well-established custom that the judges are used to, I might hesitate and reconsider, because I prefer not to shock them. But usually I'll go for it anyway."