Federal Bar Association Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Appellate Lawyer Representatives Appellate Practice Workshop November 9 10, 2010 United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 7th and Mission Streets San Francisco, California
What you will experience. Writing a brief, with a personal critique from a Ninth Circuit Judge or experienced appellate practitioner. The workshop will take place over two consecutive afternoons to minimize interference with your practice. As part of the workshop, each participant is required to prepare and submit a brief for petitioner or respondent. This is not a research exercise, but rather an exercise in effective writing by Ninth Circuit standards. A short list of case and statutory authorities is provided along with an abbreviated administrative record of the proceedings. There is a 15-page (or 4,200-word) limit for your brief. We encourage participants to brief the petitioner s position, but on request, we will provide a model petitioner s brief for participants who prefer to write a respondent s brief. All briefs are due by October 1, 2010. So the earlier you register, the more time you have. There is a $50 discount for registration by June 30, 2010, and another $50 discount for Federal Bar Association members. Government, solo and public interest lawyers receive an additional $150 discount (see registration form). The workshop and briefs will be based on a pre-selected case taken from an actual appellate proceeding that addresses an illegal alien s application for asylum. The Board of Immigration Appeals rejected the asylum claim, and the petitioner in our exercise will be briefing a petition to the Ninth Circuit, seeking to reverse that decision. You may frame the issue(s) in whatever way you find most effective; that will be part of the critique. You do not need any specialized knowledge of immigration law to participate. Each brief submitted is sent to a faculty member (a Ninth Circuit judge or experienced appellate practitioner) for review before the workshop and critique during the workshop. On the first afternoon of the program, a panel of judges and practitioners will address brief-writing topics and each participant will have an individual 15-minute one-on-one critique by a faculty member.
Additionally key players from the Ninth Circuit s staff will present their suggestions for effective practice, within their units. This sort of inside information can be invaluable for effective appellate practice. On the second afternoon, oral argument techniques will be presented by a panel of judges and practitioners. Afterwards, two experienced Ninth Circuit practitioners will argue the case to a panel of Ninth Circuit judges, and all participants (including the judges) will explain to you their expectations, goals and strategies. The judges will then engage in an actual conference and announce their ruling. This will be followed by an open discussion among the participants and the attendees. What you will learn. Among other things, participants will learn how to present the facts and arguments concisely without giving anything up, what judges expect from your briefs and arguments, and how to structure and organize an effective appellate brief. The advice is designed to be practical. Who should attend. The Appellate Practice Workshop is designed not only for those who handle appeals in immigration cases, but also for all private and public practitioners who currently appear in federal appellate courts, as well as for attorneys who want to prepare themselves for appellate practice. The program will review brief preparation, appellate writing skills, and oral advocacy, and will provide insight into expectations and perspectives from the bench. Every appellate advocate can benefit from knowing how appellate judges view appellate lawyers. MCLE credit. California MCLE credit of 5.75 hours.
Faculty United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski Senior Judge A. Wallace Tashima Judge Sidney R. Thomas Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw Judge Raymond C. Fisher Judge Richard A. Paez Judge Marsha S. Berzon Judge Carlos T. Bea Judge N. Randy Smith Molly C. Dwyer Clerk of the Court Claudia Bernard Circuit Mediator Susan Gelmis Supervising Motions Attorney Peter L. Shaw Appellate Commissioner Cole Benson Supervising Paralegal Additional Faculty Susan K. Alexander Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Danny Chou San Francisco City Attorney s Office Lucas Guttentag ACLU, Immigrants Rights Project, San Francisco and Yale Law School Steven A. Hirsch Keker & Van Nest LLP Karin A. Kramer Howrey LLP AJ Kutchins Law Office of AJ Kutchins Rory K. Little University of California Hastings College of the Law Sharon L. O Grady Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Edward Olsen U.S. Attorney s Office, Oakland Sandy Svetcov Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Barbara Valliere U.S. Attorney s Office, San Francisco Marc L. Van Der Hout Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale LLP U.S. Attorney s Office, San Francisco
Agenda Tuesday, November 9, 2010 1:00pm Registration: Outside Courtroom 3, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, San Francisco 1:15pm 1:30-3:00pm 3:00-3:15pm 3:15-4:00pm 4:00-5:00pm Welcome and Keynote Address: Welcome: Sharon L. O Grady, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP; Keynote: Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Brief Writing Panel: Discussion of Brief Writing, Reply Briefs, Ethics in Brief Writing, Problems Observed in Briefs Submitted for this Workshop MODERATOR Susan K. Alexander, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, San Francisco PANEL Senior Judge A. Wallace Tashima, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge Sidney R. Thomas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge Richard A. Paez, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Marc L. Van Der Hout, Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale LLP Karin A. Kramer, Howrey LLP Danny Chou, San Francisco City Attorney s Office Break Circuit VIP Panel: Presentations on practical issues for counsel in Ninth Circuit operations. MODERATOR Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. PANEL Molly C. Dwyer, Clerk of the Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Claudia Bernard, Circuit Mediator, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Susan Gelmis, Supervising Motions Attorney, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Peter L. Shaw, Appellate Commissioner, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Cole Benson, Supervising Paralegal, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Individual 15-Minute One-on-One Critique by a Faculty Member of Participant Briefs Submitted
Wednesday, November 10, 2010 1:00-2:15pm Oral Argument Panel: Discussion about Preparing and Presenting Arguments, Handling Questions, Effective Rebuttal, and Ethical Issues MODERATOR Barbara Valliere, U.S. Attorney s Office, San Francisco PANEL Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge Raymond C. Fisher, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge Carlos T. Bea, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Lucas Guttentag, ACLU, Immigrants Rights Project, San Francisco and Yale Law School Rory K. Little, University of California Hastings, College of the Law 2:15-2:30pm 2:30-4:30pm 2:30-2:40pm 2:40-2:50pm 2:50-3:00pm 3:00-3:30pm 3:30-3:45pm Break Model Oral Argument MODERATOR: Sandy Svetcov, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, San Francisco PANEL: Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge Marsha S. Berzon, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Steven A. Hirsch, Keker & Van Nest LLP for the Petitioner Edward Olsen, U.S. Attorney s Office, Oakland for the government Petitioner Outlines His Strategy Respondent Outlines His Strategy Three Judge Panel Outlines Its Expectations Oral Argument (15 Minutes Per Side) Break 3:45-4:30 Questions from Audience, Discussion Whether Strategy Worked and Court s Expectations Met, Panel Conference and Decision 4:30-5:30pm Cocktail Reception (Hors D Oeuvres)