Drafting the Ideal Appellate Brief

Law to Fact

In this episode...
Three writing expert writing professors share their advice and key strategies to assure success on the appellate brief. Christine Coughlin, Professor of Legal Writing at Wake Forest School of Law, Jean Goetz Mangan, Legal Writing Instructor at the University of Georgia School of Law and Ruth Anne Robbins, Distinguished Clinical Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School highlight the importance of pre-writing, narrative and even font choice when drafting the brief. And we all share the fear we first felt, and fun we finally had, when arguing the brief.
Some key takeaways...

1. Chart the arguments both pro and con before you begin writing your argument.
2. Document design can improve the quality of your brief.
3. Headings are the prime real estate of your appellate brief.
4. There is a huge value to pre-writing.

Our experts share some key reference books for you to check out!

• Ruth Ann Robbins, Ken Chestek and Steve Johansen, Your Client’s Story: Persuasive Legal Writing (2d ed. 2019)
• Christine Coughlin, Jean Malmud Rocklin et. al, A Lawyer Writes
• Ruth Anne Robbins, Painting with Print: Incorporating Concepts of Typographic and Layout Design into the Text of Legal Writing Documents
• Laura P. Graham and Miriam E. Felsenburg, The Pre-Writing Handbook for Law Students: A Step by Step Guide

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