As appellate attorneys, we know there are certain characteristics of a well-written appellate brief. Certain traits in any great brief are as follows:

1. Keep your paragraphs short. - A judge is like any other person reading a document. You need to keep the judge's attention by writing in short, crisp paragraphs. Do not write meandering, lengthy paragraphs that belong in a personal journal. Like a good book, your appellate brief should be easy to read as well as easy to understand. A good brief is BRIEF!!!

2. Focus on real issues. - A good appellate brief must focus on genuine appealable issues. Specifically, the brief should focus on issues where you have an opportunity to argue that prejudicial error took place at trial. You should not name call the judge or whine about a conspiracy theory. Keep your crisp brief focused on real and jugular issues.

3. Promote fairness. - An appellate judge wants to read a concise, well thought out brief. A judge also only wants to address real issues. In addition, a judge wants to ensure that a FAIR trial took place. As a result, make sure that fairness is a central theme of your appellate brief.

Written by:   Alexandra Siskopoulos, Esq.

Telephone:   (646) 942-1798

Email:           [email protected]

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