Facilitator Guide

Appellate Briefs

Facilitator Guide

Appellate Briefs

Topic: Motion Practice
Duration: 1 hr
Format: Remote or in person

What’s covered

Appellate standards of review
Appellate procedure
Parts of an appellate brief
Choosing your arguments
Drafting your facts
Drafting your argument

Before the session

Prepare the Attendees

Send the attendees an invitation for the session. Include this link, which has the videos and exercise they’ll need to prepare.

https://www.hotshotlegal.com/trainings/appellate-briefs/attendee

Prepare Yourself

Watch the videos and read the exercise so you’re familiar with the Hotshot material.

Course

Appellate Briefs

How to approach drafting an appellate brief, including choosing and preparing your arguments, tips for drafting your facts and argument sections, procedure, and how appellate briefs differ from lower court briefs.
Exercise
PDF

During the session

Part 1: Knowledge Check

Ask attendees these questions to ensure they understand the topic:

What are the different standards of review applied by appellate courts and when is each one applied?
What are some parts of an appellate brief that are not included in a lower court brief?
What are some strategies you can use to frame your Issues Presented favorably?
What might you consider when deciding which arguments are the best to include?
What are some strategies for presenting the facts in your appellate brief effectively?
What are some things you can do to make it easy for the appellate judge to follow your arguments?

Part 2: Group Exercise

Lead a group discussion based on the exercise. To encourage collaboration, divide the attendees into groups to discuss the exercise, then have a representative from each group summarize their views to the larger group. Call on people to share their thoughts and ask others to respond.

Tip for remote sessions: use your web conferencing system’s breakout room feature to divide people into groups.

Part 3: War Stories and Firm Specifics

Share your own experiences and guidance, including:

Anecdotes and war stories (e.g., about a near-disaster or a tough negotiation)
General practice tips (dos and don’ts)
Firm-specific guidance and practices

After the session

To continue their learning, attendees can check out related courses in Hotshot’s Motion Practice topic.

About Hotshot

Hotshot helps lawyers develop their legal, business, and technology skills through short videos, quizzes, and summaries, and we help law firms and law schools plan and deliver engaging training programs. Our customers include Am Law 200 firms, top law schools, and regional and international firms.