Sample article. The attorneys quoted are fictional. This story shows how a Legal Authority practice feature will read on the web.
Every appellate attorney knows the feeling: the record is long, the issues are real, and the first draft of the brief is twice the length anyone will read. Marcus Bell keeps a sticky note above his desk that says only “Which three?”
The question is the start of his editing process. Before he writes a word of argument, he lists every possible issue for appeal and then asks which three a busy judge needs to hear about.
Start with the standard of review
Bell says the standard of review decides more drafting choices than most lawyers admit. An issue reviewed for abuse of discretion needs a different kind of argument than one reviewed de novo, and sometimes the honest answer is that a strong-sounding point will not move the court.
“Cutting is not losing. It is choosing.”
One idea per paragraph
Desmond Trevane, an Austin appellate attorney recommended to the magazine by Bell, edits by reading only the first sentence of each paragraph. If those sentences do not tell the story of the argument on their own, the paragraph structure needs work.
Let the record speak
Both attorneys say the best citations are to the record, not to adjectives. A quoted line of testimony with a page cite does more than a paragraph explaining why the testimony matters.