Louisiana Civil Appeals

Pro bono program at the U.S. Fifth Circuit

Want to do appellate pro bono work? The U.S. Fifth Circuit is looking for you. Here’s the court’s description of its new pro bono program:

The [Fifth Circuit] Pro Bono Program assists the Court by facilitating the appointment of pro bono counsel to represent pro se litigants. Pro Bono Panel members will, at the Court’s invitation, be appointed in civil appeals that, for example, present issues of first impression, complex facts or legal questions, or potentially meritorious claims warranting further briefing and/or oral argument.

If you’re interested in signing up, follow this link. (Hat tip to 600 Camp.)

Bridging the Gap, Oct. 2017: Free appellate CLE stuff

Today I was honored to give a one-hour presentation at the Louisiana State Bar Association’s “Bridging the Gap Seminar,” a CLE program for newly sworn-in lawyers. For them and anyone else who may be interested, here are some PDFs you can download:

• My written materials
• My slide presentation
• A Writ in Time, 51 La. B.J. 338 (Feb./Mar. 2004), on making sure that your application for a supervisory writ is timely
• Immortal Forms: The Vampires of Legal Writing, For the Defense 57 (Jan. 2009), on why forms are the enemies of good briefwriting

Although I counsel against over-reliance on forms (see Immortal Forms above), I’m happy to share some samples of the kinds of court filings discussed during my presentation:

• Notice of intent to seek a supervisory writ
• Application for supervisory writ
• Appeal brief (appellee)

As a bonus, here’s a link to The Wrong Stuff by Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Ninth Circuit, explaining how you, too, can lose your first appeal (or your next one).

Finally, make your briefs look better by following this advice on typography:

• U.S. Seventh Circuit’s Requirements and Suggestions for Typography in Briefs and Other Papers
• Ruth Ann Robbins, Painting With Print: Incorporating Concepts of Typographic and Layout Design into the Text of Legal Writing Documents  

$25 discount on La. appellate CLE

Can you use an extra $25? If so, read on.

Several days ago, I posted about the LSBA’s Advanced Appellate Practice Seminar, scheduled for November 16 in New Orleans. The faculty include La. Supreme Court Justice James Genovese, eight judges from the Fourth and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeal, and yours truly. Today, I am happy to hand out this bonus goody to this blog’s readers: a $25 discount on the seminar registration fee. Just use this flyer to register—it has a $25 speaker-referral discount.