HOW DOES CIVILITY IN THE APPELLATE COURTS DIFFER FROM CIVILITY IN THE TRIAL COURTS?

Written by Hon. J. Clifford Wallace

Recently, California Litigation asked Judge Wallace to answer the question posed in the title above with reference to the immediately preceding essay, which he wrote many years earlier. He replied with the lines below.

It is true that the larger focus has been upon providing help to would-be trial lawyers, but the principles used can be easily accommodated at the appellate level. Indeed, I was not in favor of specialized appellate lawyering at the first level of appeal as a lawyer at the appellate level is much more effective if he/she has training for both levels.

"The Inns of Court" is the original beginning document of the effort. The rules dealing with how a lawyer should function, collegiality, etc., are strikingly similar at the two levels, so the "The Inns of Court" can be applied at both levels.