More tips and warnings

Picking Points on Appeal

Charles Shifley from some firm called Banner & Witcoff writes in the John Marshall Law School's Review of Intellectual Property Law this article entitled The Three Stages to Successful Appellate Advocacy Before the Federal Circuit.  While some people seem to like the idea of raising over 100 points on appeal, this article provides some guidance on how to select points.  The Insurance Defense Blog  found the article and summarized it here.

Sanctions for Conduct Below

White Collar Crime Prof Blog points here to the DC Circuit’s December 17, 2004 opinion in SEC v. Loving Spirit Foundation Inc. (No. 03-5234) in which the court ordered the lawyers to show cause why they should not be referred to the disciplinary committees of their state bars, for their conduct at the District Court which involved the filing of a “Section 144” affidavit that apparently contained false information.   In what started as an appeal from Judge Lamberth's denial of a motion to recuse, the court concludes that:

Given [the lawyer's] conduct, he should consider himself fortunate that Judge Lamberth did not impose Rule 11 sanctions. Rules 38 and 46 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, however, give us independent authority to ensure compliance with ethical standards in this court. Under Rule 38, lawyers have been sanctioned for filing appeals less frivolous than this one.