U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and legal writing expert Bryan A. Garner have collaborated on a new book that I'm looking forward to reading: Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges
Bear in mind that trial judges are fundamentally different from appellate judges. They focus on achieving the proper result in one particular case, not on crafting a rule of law that will do justice in the generality of cases. And they will pursue that objective principally through their treatment of the facts (if the case is tried to the court) and discretionary rulings. In most jurisdictions, trial judges are more disposed than appellate judges to strict observance of governing caselaw—perhaps because their work is subject to mandatory review. So at the trial-court level you are well advised to spend more time on the facts and on the discussion of precedent (from the relevant courts) and less time on policy arguments. That’s one reason why a good trial brief can rarely be used before an appellate court without major changes.
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