On Jan. 13, the judiciary committee of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 13-12 to send to the House floor H.B. 38, a bill that proposes a constitutional amendment to replace statewide elections of appellate court judges with a system…
The November 2020 AJEI virtual meeting was a record-breaking event with over 2000 attendees from five of the seven continents of the world. Although many attendees missed the camaraderie of an in-person conference, the virtual presentation by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky,…
When I opened a virtual appellate law boutique in 2013, virtual law firms were an oddity. Although electronic filing of motions and briefs was the norm, most appellate lawyers commuted to traditional offices, conducted in-person meetings, and appeared in person…
One of the more confusing areas of Pennsylvania appellate practice involves the scope of a trial court’s power after the filing of a notice of appeal. The general rule is that once an appeal is taken, the trial court may…
Love it or hate it, technology is part of the practice of law. Used well, technology can make the appellate lawyer’s job easier by streamlining the tedious parts of researching, writing and filing an appellate brief. A savvy appellate lawyer…
As an appellate lawyer, my first contact with a case is often after the notice of appeal is filed. The appeal then becomes like a game of poker. I am stuck with the cards that were dealt – the trial…
“Appellate practice isn’t what it used to be.” That was a common refrain when I conducted an informal survey of fellow appellate practitioners. Although opinions differed on how appellate practice has changed over the last decade, there were some common…
The French have a name for women at my stage of life. We’re not young anymore, but we’re not really old either. In French we are une femme d’un certain âge — a woman of a certain age. Une femme…
The Pennsylvania Courts have taken a leap into the modern world with their recently-launched app for iPhones. The PAeDocket app, which the courts say is “the first state-level mobile app for finding court dockets,” provides results about cases, including charges,…