Two federal judges are urging the judiciary to tweak a rule to explicitly allow lawyers to include an “introduction” section at the top of their appellate briefs.
Judge Kevin Newsom and Chief Judge William Pryor, both of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, said in a letter that introductions are effectively lawyers’ “elevator pitch,” in that it “briefly introduces the dispute, tees up the key issues, and explains why they should be resolved in a particular way.”
They’re asking the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules to modify an existing rule “to permit—and perhaps subtly encourage” lawyers to lead with introductions in their written arguments. A US courts website said the letter was received Tuesday.
The pair compared introductions to a lawyer describing a case to a family member over Thanksgiving dinner, and said it can help to refresh an appellate judges’ memory of the case before they take the bench. “Good for the lawyer, good for the judge,” Newsom and Pryor wrote.
The letter referenced a recent New York Times report on the Justice Department’s Office of Solicitor General, which said newly utilized introductions in Supreme Court briefs have been a point of contention. The judges said they were “chagrined” to read that report.
Pryor, a George W. Bush appointee, said in a phone interview that the article, following years of discussions with other judges about the benefits of introductions, motivated the pair to recommend the rule change.
“It’s very helpful to get that early overview in a case that puts everything in context, before you get into the technical legal arguments, citations, and authorities,” Pryor said.
While introductions aren’t banned under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, they aren’t explicitly allowed either. Pryor said that can lead to clerks’ offices rejecting briefs for violating court rules.
Newsom, a Donald Trump appointee, said in a phone interview that they didn’t want lawyers to think introductions are “generally problematic or controversial or contentious.”
Newsom said he used them as a practicing lawyer, and especially appreciates them as a sitting appellate judge who hears several cases a day. “How do you frame the case in a way that any old Joe can understand what in the world is going on?” Newsom said.
He also said that allowing them in the rules might let attorneys who don’t typically handle appeals know that they can include an introduction section in their briefs.
The next hearing on appellate rules is scheduled for Jan. 16, and the advisory committee could consider the proposal then.
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