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Ray
New Orleans, Louisiana, Earth
Civil appellate lawyer
Interests: Blues
Recent Activity
Kairos—or what briefwriters can learn from Dr. John
I been in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time. —Dr. John Here are three principles of briefwriting that I try to follow: Every part of a brief should contribute to persuasiveness. Not every part of a brief should be argumentative. Argument should be confined to,... Continue reading
Posted May 22, 2019 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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New Second Circuit briefing rules effective 5/31/19
If you practice in the Louisiana Second Circuit, be aware of two new briefing rules that become effective on May 31. First, if your brief has any attachments, it must include a certification that “all attachments to this brief have previously been duly filed and/or accepted or proffered into evidence... Continue reading
Posted May 17, 2019 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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For “Bridging the Gap” participants (and anyone else interested)
This morning I gave my annual 1-hour presentation on appellate practice at the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Bridging the Gap seminar for new lawyers. For them and anyone else who may be interested, here are PDFs copies of my written materials my slide presentation (including slides I didn’t get to)... Continue reading
Posted May 9, 2019 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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What happens when a partially incomplete judgment is appealed?
Let’s say a party appeals a trial-court judgment that is partially incomplete. For example: The judgment awards plaintiffs “$4,733, along with any penalties and interest, for the amount of income tax liability Plaintiffs incurred,” but fails to specify the amounts of penalties and interest. The judgment awards a worker’s compensation... Continue reading
Posted Feb 1, 2019 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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Answering a constitutional appeal to the LASC
Under La. Const. art. V § 5(D), the Louisiana Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction when a law or ordinance has been declared unconstitutional. Let’s say that a plaintiff sues to have three statutes declared unconstitutional. The trial court renders a final judgment declaring two of the statutes unconstitutional but the... Continue reading
Posted Jan 18, 2019 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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LASC Justice Guidry nominated to E.D. La.
Posted Jan 16, 2019 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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Need a copy of the La. Constitution of 1921?
In case you ever need to research the Louisiana Constitution of 1921, here’s a link to an on-line copy, courtesy of the Cornell University Library. If you follow the link and scroll down, you’ll see download options, including PDF. p.s. For the Louisiana Constitution of 1879, follow this link. Continue reading
Posted Jan 16, 2019 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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The Chief
Posted Dec 21, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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Appeal from new trial = appeal from judgment on the merits — sometimes.
A few days ago, the Louisiana Supreme Court saved a litigant who purportedly appealed only from an order denying new trial rather than the judgment that was the subject of a motion for new trial. “While a judgment denying a motion for new trial is an interlocutory order and is... Continue reading
Posted Dec 21, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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Vacatur of default judgment not appealable
In a decision rendered last month, the Louisiana Fifth Circuit held that a judgment vacating a default judgment is not a final judgment and therefore cannot be appealed. Russell v. Jones, 18-160 (La. App. 5 Cir. 11/14/18), — So. 3d —, 2018 La. App. LEXIS 2294. While the judgment might... Continue reading
Posted Dec 8, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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2019 DRI appellate seminar scheduled
According to a members-only notice from DRI, the DRI 2019 Appellate Advocacy Seminar (open to everyone) is scheduled for July 19, 2019 in Chicago. That’s all the information I have now; there’s nothing on the DRI web site yet. If you need appellate CLE and like to plan way ahead,... Continue reading
Posted Dec 6, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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What not to do in oral argument
Here’s an interesting thread by Raffi Melkonian about what not to do in appellate oral argument. (Hat tip to Jack Pringle.) Continue reading
Posted Dec 5, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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La. Advanced Appellate Seminar on Nov. 30
If you are (a) reading this blog, and (b) in need of CLE hours, then check out the LSBA’s Advanced Appellate Seminar, scheduled for November 30 in New Orleans. The seminar co-chairs, Judge Sylvia Cooks and Tom Flanagan, have put together a solid program offering 6.25 hours of CLE credit.... Continue reading
Posted Nov 18, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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For “Bridging the Gap” participants
This morning, I gave my semi-annual presentation on appellate practice for the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Bridging the Gap seminar for new lawyers. For them and anyone else who may be interested, here are the bonus materials that I promised: A PDF copy of my slide presentation U.S. 7th Circuit’s... Continue reading
Posted Oct 17, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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Can you appeal a denial of summary judgment?
Can you appeal a trial court’s denial of summary judgment? Normally the answer is “no.” The reason is that a denial of summary judgment is an interlocutory judgment, not a final judgment, and is therefore not appealable. See La. Code Civ. P. art. 2083. But under a line of Louisiana... Continue reading
Posted Oct 12, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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The Song Remains the Same—Or Doesn’t
Did Led Zeppelin plagiarize another song in writing “Stairway to Heaven”? A while back, a federal jury in California jury found that they didn’t. Last Friday, the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded for a new trial. Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin, No. 16-56057 (9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2018). The dispute arose... Continue reading
Posted Oct 1, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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New office decoration: the Notorious RBG
Posted Sep 28, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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Rehearing from a writ denial?
Under Uniform Rule 2-18.7, a Louisiana court of appeal will not consider an application for rehearing when the court has denied an application for a supervisory writ. The rule states that the court will consider rehearing when the court has done one of the following things: Granted a writ application... Continue reading
Posted Sep 27, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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Jurisdictional statements in applications for a supervisory writ
In my last post, I talked about the jurisdictional statement in an appellant’s brief. Today, the topic is the jurisdictional statement in an application for a supervisory writ. Jurisdictional statements in writ applications are governed by Uniform Rule 4-5(C)(2). This rule is not as detailed as Rule 2-12.4(A)(3), which governs... Continue reading
Posted Jul 23, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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How to write a jurisdictional statement
In Louisiana appellate practice, the appellant’s brief and the relator’s writ application must include a jurisdictional statement. To get this simple part of a brief or writ application right, you need to know the governing rules and—equally important—the purpose of the jurisdictional statement. In both a brief and a writ... Continue reading
Posted Jul 20, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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How to cite Notorious B.I.G. (and other recordings)
Let’s say you want to quote Bob Dylan’s lyrics in a brief. (You wouldn’t be the first.) If you do, you’ll want to get the citation form right. You could look it up in the Bluebook (19th ed., Rule 18.7.1) or your ALWD Guide to Legal Citation (5th ed., Rules... Continue reading
Posted Jul 13, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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No reasons for judgment? Here’s what you do.
Q. Let’s say that a trial court renders an appealable judgment against your client. You want to appeal, and you want the record to include the trial court’s written findings and reasons for judgment. So you file a timely request for written findings and reasons under La. Code Civ. P.... Continue reading
Posted Jun 29, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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Free CLE stuff for “Bridging the Gap” participants
This morning, I gave my semi-annual presentation on appellate practice for the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Bridging the Gap seminar for new lawyers. For them and anyone else who may be interested, here are the bonus materials that I promised: A PDF cop of my slide presentation U.S. 7th Circuit’s... Continue reading
Posted May 9, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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Louisiana appellate CLE at Loyola
Posted May 5, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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One space or two? Too much ado.
After my recent post about putting only one space (not two) between sentences, a friend pointed out a recent article in Attention, Perception & Psychophysics. According to the article, the authors (Rebecca L. Johnson, Becky Bui, and Lindsay L. Schmitt) did a study about this subject. Here’s the abstract: The... Continue reading
Posted May 5, 2018 at Louisiana Civil Appeals
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