Appellate Practice Editor's Note By: Nancy M. Olson Welcome to the 2023 Summit edition of Appellate Issues. This issue is dedicated to memorializing the panel presentations at the AJEI Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Courts & Judiciary Appellate Court Pro Bono Programs By: Rebecca G. Powell Appellate court systems across the country are developing and improving a variety of pro bono programs to attempt to match appellate practitioners with clients who need their services on appeal.
Rule Of Law Protected: Unsettling Settled Law? By: Jaletta Smith At the 2022 AJEI Summit, two panelists debated the scope and role of the stare decisis doctrine in today’s Supreme Court.
Privacy Slow Development of Legal Principles and Reliability Concerns Affect Growing Use of Facial-Recognition Technology By: Brian Miller The rapid development of facial-recognition technology has outpaced the development of governing legal principles. This advancing technology is both pervasive and popular.
Courts & Judiciary Em😊jis and the Law: The New Digital Language, Coming to a Courtroom Near You By: Suzy St. John Gone are the days when we thought emojis were nothing but a fun and easy way to express ourselves in the digital age. The ubiquity of emoji usage and inherent ambiguity that goes with it can lead to misunderstandings with legal consequences.
Rule Of Law Public Confidence and the Courts: Pillars of the Rule of Law By: Carol Funk There is no playbook for how to navigate challenges to the legitimacy of a court on which a judge serves, but both judges and lawyers have important roles to play in preserving public confidence in the judiciary as a fair and impartial institution.
Appellate Practice The Dos and Don’ts of Crafting a Strategic and Helpful Amicus Brief By: Cathy S. Trent-Vilim Appellate courts are receiving substantially more amicus briefs than in years prior. Amicus briefs can and have played an important role in our judicial system, but more is not always better.
Tribal Law & Courts The Reign of Three Sovereigns: Jurisdictional Puzzles in Indian Country By: Jonathan Sternberg Sternberg recaps the 2022 AJEI Summit panel on nationally important issues concerning Native sovereignty stemming from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma.
Courts & Judiciary Law and Linguistics By: Mark Kressel Kressel reports on the expert panel at the 2022 AJEI Summit discussing the emerging area of law and linguistics.
Appellate Practice Keynote by the Honorable J. Michelle Childs By: Namosha Boykin and Kelechukwu Chidi Onyejekwe Judge Michelle Childs' keynote address to the attendees of the 2022 AJEI Summit explained that diversity is essential for maintaining the judiciary’s monumental role in shaping our union.
Ethics Bias, Discrimination and Harassment: Rules for Judges and Lawyers By: Jessica Ballard-Barnett One would think a presentation on this topic would all be review of well-known rules, and that in 2022, racial slurs and inappropriate sexual behavior had long been banished from the courtroom. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Diversity & Inclusion Small Changes, Big Impact – Why Leadership Matters By: Judith Wright At the AJEI Summit, these panelists were willing to share their personal reckonings with discrimination. They bolstered the resolve of the audience to collectively pursue a profession where diversity, equity and inclusion are givens.
Courts & Judiciary Safe and Secure? Are you Sure? By: Linda L. Morkan Can you imagine living in a country where judges fear for their safety and that of their families as a result of discharging their official duties? Well, not much imagination is required because the U.S. is just such a country.
Appellate Practice Dissents and Concurrences By: Richard Schickele Think about dissents and concurrences in an organized manner. If you are writing a dissent or a concurrence, you have lost – you didn’t get the votes. This raises questions of when, why, and how you write and also for whom are you writing.
Client Protection Amicus Filings: With Friends Like These, What Judges and Lawyers Need to Know About Amici Curiae By: Jennifer Goodwin Shircliff Shircliff reports on a panel discussing the role amicus briefs play in appellate litigation, tips to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and how courts utilize them to influence their thoughts and decision-making.
Appellate Practice Qualified Immunity Break Out Session: “A ‘Clearly Established’ Controversy” By: Krista MacNevin Jee The AJEI Summit provided a panel of speakers well-versed in the issue of qualified immunity to delve a little deeper into this well-known, sometimes misunderstood, and presently much discussed federal defense.
Children A Supreme Court Preview By: Carol Rooney An outstanding panel at the 2022 AJEI Summit provided an excellent preview of the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming arguments and pending decisions.
Civil Rights & Constitution Dean Chemerinsky Sums Up the Civil Cases the U.S. Supreme Court Decided in the October 2021 Term By: Virginia Hinrichs McMichael In his usual straightforward manner, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky gave a thorough and apolitical recap of the noteworthy civil cases decided during the Court’s October 2021 term to the attendees of the 2022 AJEI Summit.
Tribal Law & Courts Supreme Court Review: Criminal Cases By: Sarah Medlin At the beginning of his Criminal Supreme Court Review, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky noted the overall reduction in size of the Supreme Court’s docket. But, he emphasized, there has been a disproportionate reduction in criminal cases.
Courts & Judiciary A Celebration of the life and legacy of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor By: Namosha Boykin and Kelechukwu Chidi Onyejekwe Justice Sandra Day O’Connor needs no introduction, but not many know about her as a friend, mother, wife, mentor, legislator, and private citizen, especially before she became a Supreme Court Justice.
