Technology for Appellate Lawyers – Digital Tools for Efficiently Preparing Your Appellate Brief

On December 11, 2023, I gave a short presentation at the Appellate Law Institute, sponsored by the Appellate Law Section of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.  Here is the topic and synopsis:

A Quick Review of Some Digital Tools to Assist Appellate Lawyers

All appellate attorneys use word processors and Westlaw and/or Lexis. What are some of the less obvious digital tools out there that can help us to write our appellate briefs? They say that you can’t have it both fast and good. Maybe that’s true, but this short talk will be a brisk review of about ten less-obvious digital apps that I use for digesting transcripts, researching cases and writing briefs faster and better.

The SLIDES of my presentation can be downloaded in PDF format here:

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Does Stare Decisis (precedent) really force judges to decide cases in particular ways?

On the topic of stare decisis, I recently published this article for the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis on the topic: “The Exaggerated Importance of Stare Decisis.” “SD,” as I refer to it throughout the article, “works” on simple cases. On cases with complex issues, SD does not compel particular outcomes, yet we pretend that it does for fascinating psychological and jurisprudential reasons.

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Shall We Meet for Lunch or Hold a Walking Business Meeting in the Park?

"Let's have lunch, OK?" That used to be my suggestion when I wanted to talk with someone, whether it be catching up with a friend or the need to discuss business. That was before the biometrics of Fitbit, among other things, nudged me to reach for a different way to conduct a small business meeting. Now, when I need to talk business, I often ask whether, instead of lunch, my acquaintance would like to talk while we walk in a park.

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