Advice from Fed. Cir. judges

Law360 has Fed. Circ. Talks Judge Denzel Washington, AI Susan Sarandon -- More than half of the Federal Circuit's judges were in Boston on Tuesday conducting out-of-town oral arguments, and afterward they discussed the most concerning and most promising elements of artificial intelligence, how to write a good brief, why en banc hearings are rare and which celebrities they'd love to see on a panel.

The Federal Circuit judges each stressed the need for briefing and oral arguments to be used as a way to help them, rather than to just put everything and anything out there.

• "When you narrow the issues that are in dispute, you're infinitely more credible than the person that is arguing every single thing," Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Kimberly Moore said in the fireside chat. "It makes us want to fight for you because you're being honest."
• During the full court panel, U.S. Circuit Judge Kara Stoll suggested limiting appeals to three issues.
• U.S. Circuit Judge Todd Hughes stressed the benefit of direct briefing on judges when they're doing an incredible amount of reading each week.
• "The point of the brief is to help us and tell us what we need to know to decide the case in your client's favor," he said, adding soon after that "I want to be able to sit down and read it and understand it from page one."
• U.S. Circuit Judge Leonard Stark similarly said oral arguments are not for prepared speeches, but to answer questions.
• "It's important to understand that oral argument time is the court's time," Judge Stark said. "You want us to interrupt you. You want to have that hope for some insight into what it is about your case that's bothering us and what it is we need to be persuaded to come to your side."
• "Don't fight the questions," he continued. "Don't act as if you're bothered with us interrupting you. And try your best to be in a conversation with us that together we have a problem we're trying to solve."
• Judge Moore, in her later discussion, said attorneys need to actually answer hypotheticals, even if they don't exactly align with the facts of the case.

Bloomberg Law has Willkie Taps Ex-DOJ Appellate Lawyer Ross for DC Litigation Team; Law360 has

Willkie Adds Ex-Asst. Solicitor General As Group Head

Law360 also has Calif. Court Has Change Of Heart On Juror Challenge Question -- A California state appeals court has changed its mind on its own precedent governing when prosecutors can use a peremptory challenge to dismiss a non-white juror from a case, finding a "lack of life experience" can be good reason to dismiss a juror and affirming a man's life sentence.

And NBC national news covered an AI-assisted self-represented appellate victory; story here.

“I can’t overemphasize the usefulness of AI in my case,” White said. “I never, ever, ever, ever could have won this appeal without AI.”