Ever Changing, Always Evolving: New Developments in Legal Writing and Appellate Advocacy

6.0 CLE Hours 

Program overview:  This seminar will bring practitioners up to date on recent developments in appellate practice and procedure and focus on how lawyers can improve their legal writing at every stage of litigation.  The seminar is appropriate for both experienced appellate lawyers and trial lawyers who want to improve their writing and gain a general familiarity with appellate litigation.       

Welcoming Remarks by Program Chair

• Bonnie Keith Green, The Green Firm, PLLC, Charlotte

Approaches to Eliminating Legalese and Simplifying Your Legal Writing 

• Christopher Brook, Patterson Harkavy, Chapel Hill
• Jon Ward, Pinto Coates Kyre & Bowers, Greensboro 

  
  

  • Christopher Brook, a former North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge and the former director of the ACLU of North Carolina, and Jon Ward, an NCAJ member who has litigated numerous appeals and written many amicus briefs on behalf of NCAJ, will discuss how to simplify your legal writing to create more persuasive briefs and improve pleadings, demand letters, and other documents.

The New Appellate Style Manual and Universal Citations

• Caitlin A. Mitchell, Nexsen Pruet, Raleigh
  • The editor of the April 2021 revision to the North Carolina Appellate Style Manual will discuss changes to the Style Manual and will give guidance on North Carolina’s switch to universal citations.

The New Chief

• The Honorable Donna Stroud, Chief Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals, Raleigh
  • Chief Judge Stroud will discuss developments in the North Carolina Court of Appeals since her investiture as Chief Judge. 

Panel Discussion: Improving Your Writing at Every Stage of Litigation to Prevail on Appeal 

• The Honorable Anita Earls, Supreme Court of North Carolina, Raleigh
• The Honorable Toby Hampson, North Carolina Court of Appeals, Raleigh
• The Honorable Richard Dietz, North Carolina Court of Appeals, Raleigh
• Moderator: Erwin Byrd, North Carolina Advocates for Justice, Raleigh
  • The panel will discuss the process of reviewing a record on appeal and how writing at each stage of litigation—from complaint, answer, discovery, motions, and appellate briefs—impacts the ultimate outcome of an appeal.

Oral Argument Before the Supreme Court of North Carolina 

• The Honorable Amy L. Funderburk, Clerk of Court, Supreme Court of North Carolina, Raleigh
• M.C. Hackney, Assistant Clerk of Court, Supreme Court of North Carolina, Raleigh
  • Learn about the procedures for oral argument in the North Carolina Supreme Court and the use of exhibits and new technology at oral argument.

Adjourn