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

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I wrote here and here about the Conference on State and Federal Appeals on June 3 and 4, as well as my presentation on preparing for oral argument.  Giving a presentation about exactly how and why I do what you do kind of feels like cheating because I wind up learning way more than the group I'm purportedly "teaching." 

One of the lessons I rediscovered was how important it is to take my time when I'm preparing for argument.  The temptation is always there to start creating outlines too soon and figuring out what you're going to say.  This is a mistake.  The first step for preparation that I wrote about in the paper is:

Step One: DON’T Figure Out What You’re Going To Say

I have a paper weight with the quotation, “Good writing is clear thinking made visible.” By the same measure, “Good argument is clear thinking made audible.” One of the biggest temptations in writing a brief is the temptation of writing too soon, before your thinking is clear and before you have a plan. In my view it is the same with oral argument.

There are many hoops to jump through before your thinking is clear enough that you can possibly have any idea what ought to be said. . . .

So, like a good doctor, first, do no harm. Like a good carpenter, measure twice, cut once. Don’t start by trying to figure out what you’re going to say. Get your thinking clear, and do the following steps first.

The rest of the paper is nine steps I use to create and learn all the information I need in a short argument outline.  But none of that creation or learning takes place if I just sit down with pad and paper to "draft" an argument outline from the outset. 

I hope you get to come to the conference and introduce yourself in real life.  UT always puts together a good program, and I know my panel members, Daryl Moore, Jennifer Bruch Hogan,  and Judge Bill Boyce will  have good content on how to get your thinking clear for argument.