It is not every day that sitting judges give lawyers specific instruction on how to write their briefs. Judge Kethledge wrote a helpful primer about effective writing a while back. This week, Chief Judge Pryor and Judge Newsom from the Eleventh Circuit offer their own nugget of free advice: Begin briefs with an introduction. We appreciate it and while opinions on this point may differ, we fully agree.
The judges wrote a letter to a member of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules that suggested an amendment to Appellate Rule 28, the rule covering the contents of briefs. They recommend a new subsection that encourages briefs to include an introduction. The rule currently is silent. Their proposal would make introductions permissive not mandatory (though certainly encouraged). The judges suggest “a short introduction that briefly frames the case, identifies the key legal issue(s), and recommends a resolution.”
Their suggestion to amend the rule doubles as a writing instructional. Judges Pryor and Newsom liken a “a good introduction” to an “elevator pitch.” A successful intro should avoid the technicalities of an argument section and read the way “a lawyer might explain” the case to family “over Thanksgiving dinner.” They observe that “savvy lawyers often use” introductions to “great effect.” And the judges give guidance on how to do just so: A good introduction “briefly introduces the dispute, tees up the key issues, and explains why they should be resolved” favorable to your client. These reputed judges’ ringing endorsement of introductions, we think, is reason enough to include them (even if they count toward the word limit).
Introductions, they admit, can help the judge recall the case “right before he or she takes the bench.” That’s a good reason to write them.