Recently, one of my colleagues came into my office and asked me to step in for him on a case he was appealing. As the lawyer in our office with an appellate emphasis, I usually get consulted and pitch in when a case gets appealed, but this time he asked me to take over the entire file. The case was appealed, docketed, briefed and scheduled for oral argument in a month. Essentially, my colleague had handed me a “case in a box” and asked me to carry it the rest of the way for him.
Even if you aren’t part of an appellate boutique, you may occasionally get asked, like I was, to handle an appeal as a case in a box. Again, I am using that term to refer to a case that was filed, tried and perhaps even briefed before you are assigned to it by a colleague or retained to handle the appeal. Therefore, when the case comes to you, it already fills a box of filings, transcripts and other materials.
