The State Bar Appellate Section and Texas Bar CLE are co-sponsoring the 22nd Annual Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course, which is set for September 4-5, 2008 at the Four Seasons Hotel here in Austin. The popular Appellate Boot Camp will take place on September 3 and the Section's annual meeting is scheduled for September 6, to be followed by a cocktail reception with the judiciary.
I have attended this seminar for many years and strongly recommend it to any lawyer who handles appeals with any regularity or who is interested in doing so. A brochure with registration information is available here.
Aside from its timely topics, informative speakers, and excellent written materials, the best part of this program may be what has become an annual Appellate Song Lyrics Contest, in which contestants are asked to alter the lyrics of a well known song to give it an "appellate" touch. You will find the contest rules here and in the Summer issue of The Appellate Advocate, which should be hitting Section members' mailboxes in the next couple of weeks. The contest submission deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August, 15.
To give you an idea how creative (and fun!) appellate lawyers can be, here is last year's winning entry, set to the tune of Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover":
50 Ways To Waive Your Error
The problem's all in your record she said to me.
The answer is easy if you brief it legally.
I'd like to help you but your objection's absentee.
There must be fifty ways to waive your error.
She said it's really not my habit to advise.
Furthermore, I hope my counsel won't lead to your demise.
But I'll repeat myself so the court's words won't surprise.
There must be fifty ways to waive your error.
Fifty ways to waive your error
CHORUS 1:
You just fail to object, Hecht
Leave it outta the brief, Chief
You don't need to be seen, Green
Just get it denied PC
Don't make a bill, Phil
just take a big chill pill
don't timely appeal, O'Neill
and get it denied PC
She said it grieves me so to see you in such straits.
I wish there was something I could do to lower your rates.
I said I appreciate that, as again she explicates.
About the fifty ways...
She said why don't we both just work on it all night.
And I believe by the morning you'll begin to see the light.
The error's jurisdictional, my liability is slight.
There must be... fifty ways to waive your error
Fifty ways to waive your error
CHORUS 2:
You just fail to object, Hecht
Leave it outta the brief, Chief
don't bother to call, Paul
Just get denied PC
Just say you forgot, Scott
The issue's long gone, Don
it's already stale, Dale
And it's been denied... PC