Appellate practice requires specific skills. They must have excellent analytical skills to craft persuasive appeals.

“A good appeal lawyer knows what issues to choose when writing briefs. Even the best-written brief can fail if the lawyer is not careful about framing the right issues. They must pass through a filter of importance and strength, and only the stronger arguments should make it to the appellate brief. Similarly, raising every single issue does not make an argument strong; instead, it only dilutes the ones that are worth considering,” says a spokesperson for Brownstone Law.

A lawyer’s grasp of the standard of review also helps determine the advocate’s credibility. Different standards apply to various issues. Some are more deferential to the trial court than others. Before drafting the appellate argument, the lawyer must correctly determine the standard applicable to the case or risk losing the appeal.

Written briefs are the essence of appellate advocacy. It takes experience and expertise for an appellate lawyer to write an excellent brief. “The brief must be clear, concise, and instill confidence about the defendant’s innocence. It not only involves using precise words but constructing the entire structure and logic. The final brief should go through several edits and rewrites so that a perfect argument is presented before the judge,” he adds. Within a few minutes of reading the brief, the judge must get an idea about the appeal and convince the judge to rule in the defendant’s favor.

Since these are very specific skills, a defendant should choose appellate lawyers wholly dedicated to appellate practice. It takes a lot of experience and expertise to assemble appeal records, research and analyze trial court findings, and use them to write an appellate brief. “We often co-counsel with trial attorneys to protect records and make objections during the trial,” he adds.

About Brownstone Law:

Robert Sirianni and his team of appellate attorneys focus exclusively on federal and state appeals across the United States. The firm has handled hundreds of civil and criminal appeals, federal habeas corpus, and post-conviction motions.

To learn more, visit https://www.brownstonelaw.com/.