Any attorney handling an appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit would wish to know the answers to several critical questions: What makes for a great appellate advocate? What telling mistakes do attorneys too often make in their written briefs and oral arguments? What’s more important, briefing or oral advocacy? Can counsel lose a case because of subpar briefing or oral argument? In November 2020, Judge Harry T. Edwards prepared a report summarizing answers to these and other questions – a report that reflects the comments and observations of no fewer than thirteen current members of Court of Appeals.
No doubt every appellate advocate will want to read and carefully study Judge Edwards’s report, which also includes summary data on the workload and disposition of cases of the Court of Appeals for the past three years.