Archive for July 2010
A Very Disturbing Appellate Sanction Story
Jay O’Keeffe, in his blog reports that he is bothered by a recent development involving a lawyer who has been summoned to show cause and explain comments he made in a lower court transcript about the Virginia Supreme Court. Bothered is a mild way to describe my reaction to the story. Put more accurately, I…
Read MoreCeremony for Clerk of Georgia Court of Appeals Offers Glimpse into Political Climate
These have been difficult days for the judiciary and for the Court of Appeals in particular. There are three openings on the Court and two branches of government that seem to view the court system as an inconvenient hurdle standing in the way of law enforcement. Add to the mix the fact that yesterday was…
Read MoreAppeals Law is Often About Turning Down Cases
In the past week, I sat down with two potential clients and their families to discuss taking an appeal. I thought one case was “winnable,” and one I thought was not. I put “winnable” in quotation marks because defining a win in appeals law is difficult. In one case , the prospective client recently entered…
Read MoreAtlanta Mayor’s Office Supplies Budgeted More Money than Public Defender
Donovan X. Ramsey at The Public Square, a Blog on Atlanta Politics and News, reports that the City of Atlanta’s Public Defender’s Office receives less money for indigent defense than the Atlanta Mayor’s Office receives for office supplies. The Atlanta PD’s office is allocated about $1.1 million dollars for use in defending a projected 16,500 cases…
Read MoreClient Autonomy on the Front Lines as a Georgia Appeals Lawyer
From Bob Mabry at his blog, Courts and Writing, I learned about an article by University of Georgia law professor Erica J Hashimoto in the latest issue of the Boston University Law Review. According to Professor Hashimoto, the criminal client should have a complete right to represent himself at trial and on appeal. Also, when…
Read MoreA Key to Success on Georgia Appeals is to Really Know Your Audience
When I succeed in my brief writing or at oral argument (I measure success by writing a good brief and by fluid conversational delivery at argument — not necessarily by result), it is because I stop to think about my audience. More particularly, I remember that my audience includes a set of staff attorneys and…
Read More11th Circuit: Lawsuit Against Clayton County, GA DA Can Move Forward
Bill Rankin at the AJC reports that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a Federal District Court’s dismissal against former Clayton County District Attorney for an alleged violation of his First Amendment right to Free Speech. This is the latest chapter in what was a debacle of a tenure for. Mrs. Scott as…
Read MoreHonorable Debra Bernes Dies at 54
The Honorable Debra Bernes has died of cancer at the age of 54. Bill Rankin at the Atlanta Journal Constitution has posted an article on her passing and her career. Judge Bernes will be remembered for many things including her illustrious, albeit too short career on the Georgia Court of Appeals. Before beginning her service on the…
Read MoreA New Approach to Felony Murder and a New Template to Attack Precedent in Georgia
There are two big stories in the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in Jackson v. State. The first is that the rule of causation for felony murder that had been in place for thirty years has been changed. The second is that the majority has provided a framework for any appellant to use in future cases…
Read MoreTiming Problems for Getting Retained on Georgia Appeals
One of the problems with appellate law is that clients either show up too late or early. Some clients show up too late and too early. Too late is after the trial attorney has screwed things up, after a deadline has passed, or after the client took things into his own hands and dabbled in…
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