Appellate Practice
Oct. 17, 2015
Oral argument has lost its way
Oral argument was once unquestionably necessary because briefs were exactly what their name implies: "a short abstract of the argument a lawyer would make orally." By Barry M. Wolf
Barry M. Wolf
Wolf is an appellate attorney in West Los Angeles. His website is www.wolfappeals.com. All of his clients are wonderful.
Organizational practices sometimes outlast their rationales. There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that when the British entered World War II, their weaponry included some Boer War-era artillery that they mounted on mobile units. A time-and-motion expert called in to improve the guns' firing rate was puzzled by a pause in certain soldiers' activity shortly before firing. An old colonel solved the mystery: The pause was part of the...
For only $95 a month (the price of 2 article purchases)
Receive unlimited article access and full access to our archives,
Daily Appellate Report, award winning columns, and our
Verdicts and Settlements.
Or
$795 for an entire year!
Or access this article for $45
(Purchase provides 7-day access to this article. Printing, posting or downloading is not allowed.)
Already a subscriber?
Sign In