You’ve been a lawyer for a couple of years, and a partner at your law firm has just given you your first assignment relating to an appeal. She hasn’t given you much to get you started — only a two-sentence summary of what happened at trial, the notice of appeal and an unsuccessful new trial motion. Your assignment: Read the trial record to spot all potential legal errors that might be raised on appeal. What now? Where do you begin?
Because it is the appellant who must affirmatively demonstrate error, there is no short cut to reviewing the entire record. One needle-in-a-haystack piece of evidence or buried court finding can defeat what might otherwise appear to be an airtight appellate argument. However, here are a few proven organizational methods that can save time and provide thorough results for your boss and more importantly, your client.
