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Appellate Practice,
Civil Litigation

Aug. 29, 2024

Reflections on oral argument from an appellate justice turned practitioner

Oral arguments can influence appellate decisions, especially when they introduce new facts or precedents that were not considered during the briefing process. Such arguments can change the expected outcome or the type of relief granted.

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I served as a Justice of the California Court of Appeal for 35 years before transitioning to appellate practice at the beginning of this year. Since then, I have been thinking a great deal about some of the lessons and advice I can bring to bear.

This discussion will be about oral argument. Because so much of appellate decision-making turns on the briefs, when does oral argument really matter? The answer must be when an oral argument changes a result the...

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