Appellate Fruit Salad and Other Concepts: A Short Course in Appellate Process

Abstract

The focus of instruction in most law school moot court experiences is on techniques for effective written and oral advocacy. This is entirely appropriate and consistent with the pedagogical goals of the experience. But the appellate experience is also an excellent vehicle for familiarizing students with some of the fundamental concepts of appellate process. As is often the case, the problem is time. Unless the moot court problem turns on issues of appellate process (and very few do), it is difficult to make time to devote to instruction on matters not directly related to completing the project at hand.

This article attempts to solve this problem by providing students with a short course in appellate process. It explains three important aspects of appellate procedure: standing to appeal, the timing of an appeal, and the extent of appellate review. It then provides hypothetical fact patterns and questions to review the concepts. Students can read the text and complete the questions on their own, or professors can assign the reading and use the questions for class discussion. Either way, students will benefit from exposure to some of the fundamentals of appellate process.

Keywords: appellate process, courts, judicial procedure

JEL Classification: K19, K39, K41