The Appellate Record : Texas Appellate Lawyer & Attorney Kendall Gray for Fifth Circuit & Supreme Court Appeals

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In earlier post I mentioned the paper I am writing on oral argument and the presentation to be given at the UT Conference on State and Federal Appeals held June 3 and 4.  The first part of that paper is about why we hold oral argument at all.  The second part is a blow-by-blow account of how I prepare, as just one suggested method for how to do it well.

As I got down to writing the paper, I noticed something about my method that I had never thought about.  With all the techie tools available to me, my studying is still very 19th Century.  As it turns out, I think that's a good thing:

• My method tends to be very analogue and slow—physically looking at the record or writing certain things in long hand as opposed to using lots of digital tools or applications. 
• My method involves repeated exposure to the same information in different contexts using different, physical senses.
• As a result, my method accidentally incorporates some of the things I learned 30 years ago in my one undergraduate “Educational Psychology” class.

The Ed-Psych researchers that we studied found that repeated exposure to information, using multiple senses to draw relationships and connections was the way to master academic material. So, why not bring those same techniques to bear in “studying” for the oral argument test? 

Just like history class or conjugating French verbs, I literally make flash cards of anticipated hard questions and how I will answer them, flash cards for all the key cases, etc. and then I drill the same as I would for any other "exam."  I physically read the record on paper because it makes a visual imprint.  I say things out loud because hearing helps me remember.  I study as if I will be tested--because I will.  Those folks in the black robes like to ask questions, and I'd much rather have them do so than speechify to a bunch of potted plants.

And I'm sure I'm not the only one that reverts to my school days when preparing.  Help me out.  What are your prep methods that carry over from school?  What is the trick in your tool bag that works best for you?

But if you want my 10 Easy Steps to Making Oral Argument Fun And Simple (and the scintillating discussion of the panel members, Judge Bill Boyce, Jennifer Bruch Hogan and Daryl Moore) you'll have to attend the conference!