If you have any questions about Appellate Advocacy, please contact Bill Fernholz in 375 Boalt. His phone number is 643-4447.
Fall 2007
Appellate Advocacy is designed to further develop the skills learned in Written and Oral Advocacy—writing and presenting oral argument. Lectures and readings will focus on (1) legal analysis and reasoning, (2) the appellate doctrines that often determine the outcome of appeals, and (3) the institutional policies and procedures of appellate courts.
The aim of Appellate Advocacy is to provide students an experience closely comparable to actual appellate practice. Students will write a full brief from a shortened record of a real appellate case. Students will also prepare, practice and deliver a full oral argument. Students will receive advice and guidance from Practitioner-Advisors and Student-Advisors. Practitioner-Advisors are among the best appellate practitioners in the Bay Area.
Enrollment is limited to twenty-four students. The course is open to second year students. Third year students may enroll with permission of the instructor, but only if the class is not full.
The course is a means of obtaining membership on the Moot Court Board. Moot Court Board members advise in and help to organize Appellate Advocacy, the McBaine Moot Court Competition, and external moot court competitions.
The course is graded, with the brief counting as 75% of the grade and oral argument as 25% of the grade. The grade awarded will also reflect the quality and timeliness of interim assignments. Because this class requires efforts on the part of so many parties—including Student-Advisors, Practitioner-Advisors, judges, and opposing "counsel"—no students will be allowed to drop after the first week of instruction.