3.C appellate process Flashcards

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1
Q

two purposes

A
  1. correct mistakes in law
  2. provide for uniformity in the law
    (policy making is not a primary purpose it is a byproduct)
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2
Q

what cases are more appealed nationally

A

criminal

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3
Q

most important factor to appeal

A

financial cost

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4
Q

what are the 2 major cost in filing an appeal

A
  1. attorney fee

2. cost of transcript

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5
Q

first level appellate court/intermediate

A
  • get case by appeal
  • gets no discretion has to take all cases
    ex: U.S court of appeals & MD court of special appeals
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6
Q

second level appellate court

A

gets all/ nearly all cases by petition

ex: U.S. supreme court & MD court of appeals

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7
Q

Party who appeals

A

Appellant

Appellant v. Appelle

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8
Q

appellants brief

A

sets forth the mistakes in law that have been made and offers legal support
-prepared by lawyer

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9
Q

legal support

A

usually offered in appellate court opinions of any type as they contain legal reasoning

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10
Q

who prepares the appellant and brief and transcript

A

lawyer

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11
Q

what does the appellees brief show

A

there is not a mistake in law

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12
Q

reply brief

A

appellants brief lawyer can send a reply brief to the appellees lawyer
-don’t ignore cases that favor the appellee, meet head on

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13
Q

amicus curiae briefs

A

“friend of the court” not a party but has information

  • can do any time
  • interest groups/ individual need to get courts permission or permission from the party they are submitting on behalf
  • very little impact on judges decision
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14
Q

oral argument in first level appellate courts

A
  • may or may not occur
  • each side gets same amount of time
  • appellants lawyer first (show burden of proof)
  • appellate lawyer asks questions of lawyer- lawyer must answer
  • Socratic method used in law school to prepare for this
  • ONLY time for direct interaction between lawyers and judges in appellate case
  • judges meet at a later time to discuss case and decide who wins then designate a judge to write majority opinion
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15
Q

majority opinion

A

entails who wins case with legal reasoning

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16
Q

concurring opinion

A

agrees the winning party is the winning party but for different legal reasoning

17
Q

dissenting opinion

A

believe the losing party should have been the winner with legal reasoning

18
Q

second level appellate courts

A
  • petition from first level
  • petitioner lawyer submits brief revised with first courts decision-given to respondents lawyer so they can create a respondents brief
19
Q

writ of certiorari

A

court order to send up record of the case

  • not automatically sent up here since so many petitions are denied
  • lawyers are sometimes asked to submit
20
Q

oral argument in second level

A
  • very likely (full treatment)
  • supreme court gives 30 min per side
  • petitions lawyer go first (show burden of proof)
  • majority opinion more likely to have concurring then dissenting opinion in second level (used for companion cases)
21
Q

easing judges workload

A
  • use of abbreviated procedures
  • written material only
  • per curaim opinion
  • full treatment cases to everything but companion cases
22
Q

per curaim opinion

A

opinion of the court rather than the judge, lets the parties know who wins or loses usually in first level

23
Q

companion cases

A

a group of two or more cases which are consolidated by an appellate court while on appeal and are decided together because they concern one or more common legal issues.

24
Q

law clerks

A
  • judges pick own law clerks
  • each justice on supreme court has 4
  • usually hired straight out of law school
25
Q

4 major things/functions clerks do for judges

A
  1. reads debriefs and selects/ recommends cases to give full treatment
  2. if oral argument prepare bench memorandum(contains questions judges can ask)
  3. research points of law
  4. when appellate court judge is writing an opinion the law clerk writes draft until judge write the final draft
26
Q

staff law clerk

A

for the COURT

  • not specifically for a judge
  • helps reading briefs and research points of law
  • typically lawyers
  • serve 1-2 years
27
Q

discretionary jurisdiction

A

second level appellate courts have discretionary jurisdiction
-can deny/ choose its cases