Strategic Use of Amicus Briefs in Appellate Advocacy
Drafting Effective Amicus Briefs; Soliciting and Coordinating Amici Curiae; Working With the Government as Amicus Curiae in Your Case
Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will provide practical guidance to appellate attorneys, litigators and in-house litigation managers on the strategic use of amicus briefs in appellate advocacy. The panel will offer guidance on soliciting and coordinating amicus support, as well as insights and advice on writing amicus briefs and dealing with the government when it appears as amicus curiae.
Outline
- Procedural requirements governing amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and other appellate courts
- Why, when, and how to solicit and coordinate amicus support
- Elements of an effective amicus brief
- The government as amicus curiae
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key questions:
- What strategic considerations affect the decisions on whether to solicit and/or file amicus briefs?
- What are the elements of an effective statement of interest?
- What unique considerations should counsel consider at the discretionary review stage versus the merits stage?
- How can appellate attorneys, trial counsel, and in-house counsel most effectively team on preparation of amicus briefs?
- What special issues are involved when the Solicitor General is invited by the U.S. Supreme Court to file an amicus brief on behalf of the United States? When state attorneys general file as amici curiae?
Faculty
Lawrence S. Ebner
Partner
Dentons
Mr. Ebner is an accomplished appellate, federal issues, and critical motions attorney with almost 45 years of... | Read More
Mr. Ebner is an accomplished appellate, federal issues, and critical motions attorney with almost 45 years of litigation experience. He has authored hundreds of briefs on complex legal issues for parties or amici curiae in the Supreme Court, in every federal circuit court of appeals, in state appellate courts, and in federal and state trial courts. He has presented oral arguments before eight federal circuits and three state supreme courts, and in federal district courts throughout the nation. He has recently authored Supreme Court amicus briefs for DRI on class-action issues such as mootness of class-actions when the named plaintiff is offered complete relief, use of statistical extrapolations to satisfy class-action certification requirements, and appealability of class-certification rulings.
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Mary-Christine (M.C.) Sungaila
Partner
Haynes & Boone
Ms. Sungaila briefs and argues appeals raising cutting-edge and core business issues, and helps secure important... | Read More
Ms. Sungaila briefs and argues appeals raising cutting-edge and core business issues, and helps secure important rights for women nationally and internationally. She provides pretrial and trial consultations in cases where an appeal by either side appears inevitable or a “key case” outcome might impact a whole series of cases for a client. Her work has helped to preserve the attorney-client privilege, develop the standards for the admission of expert testimony, determine limits to the reach of class actions and securities laws, extend the assumption of the risk doctrine, develop rules for preventing compelled speech under the First Amendment, define the scope of the duty to warn sophisticated users of product hazards, clarify the standards for interstate enforcement of non-compete agreements and reverse significant judgments for clients.
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Averil Rothrock
Shareholder
Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt
Ms. Rothrock focuses her practice on appellate law, including motion practice, appellate brief writing and oral... | Read More
Ms. Rothrock focuses her practice on appellate law, including motion practice, appellate brief writing and oral advocacy. She assists trial lawyers to position their case for appeal. She also assists clients to appear in appellate proceedings as friends of the court through amicus curiae briefing. She has a broad range of experience in litigation, including arbitrations, mediations, dispositive motions, trials, and appeals.
CloseRobin S. Conrad
Moderator
Ms. Conrad has spent most of her legal career directing, strategizing and coordinating amicus activity at every level... | Read More
Ms. Conrad has spent most of her legal career directing, strategizing and coordinating amicus activity at every level of the judicial system. She is credited with turning the public policy law firm of the US Chamber of Commerce into one of the most influential sources of amicus briefing for the US Supreme Court,- particularly with regard to its decisions to accept cases for review. After three decades with the Chamber, she left the nonprofit world for private practice where she was appointed head of McKenna Long & Aldridge's appellate group and served as a post-merger litigation partner at Dentons US LLP. She has since returned to the nonprofit world where she continues to speak and advise on amicus litigation strategies.
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