Sentences with phrase «sample of their appellate practice»

The following is a representative sample of their appellate practice:

Not exact matches

So far, only three published studies have analyzed the association between brief readability and case outcome, 50 and no studies have analyzed that association in the trial courts, where most lawyers practice.51 Long and Christensen sampled 882 appellate briefs from the Supreme Court, federal appellate courts, and state supreme courts.52 Their dependent variable was the outcome of the appeal (affirmed or reversed), while their independent variable was readability measured by the Flesch Reading Ease score as calculated by Microsoft Word.53 For federal appellate and state supreme court briefs, the researchers coded control variables for federal or state court, standard of review, presence of a dissenting opinion, and readability of the opinion deciding the appeal.54 For United States Supreme Court briefs, the researchers coded control variables for constitutional issue, criminal or civil case, presence of a dissenting opinion, and opinion readability.55 They found no statistically significant correlation between readability and outcome in the briefs in their study.56

For example, Kenneth Chestek found that judges, law clerks, and practicing lawyers rated sample briefs with strong narrative components as more persuasive than sample briefs without strong narrative components.13 Sean Flammer found that judges rated sample briefs as more persuasive when they were written in plain language rather than in legalese.14 Similarly, Robert Benson and Joan Kessler found that appellate judges and their law clerks preferred briefs written in plain language rather than in legalese.15 Finally, Joseph Kimble and Steve Harrington found that judges and attorneys preferred plain language over legalese.16 These studies, however, measure only the judges» and lawyers» stated preferences for particular styles of writing.