Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’ “
“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” may not be a standard guide to appellate brief writing, however much litigation can seem like a journey though the looking glass. But the king’s words bear remembering. Lawyers too often fail to write high quality beginnings and endings of appellate briefs, assuming that what matters lies in between. Yet the introduction and the conclusion play important roles in a brief’s overall persuasiveness. They merit real attention by the appellate advocate.
