What Oral Argument on Appeals Tells You About Your Chances of Prevailing

Timothy Kowal, Esq.
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October 20, 2020
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Oral argument on appeal is often seen as the main event, especially through the client's eyes. But when you get a cold bench with few questions asked by the appellate judges, there is little to report back to the client. This new analysis gives you something to say.

Appellate attorney Kirk Jenkins has an analysis of questions asked by California appellate justices. As one might expect, questions asked of the appellant tends (somewhat) to forebode affirmance of the judgment (the appellant loses). And where there are questions asked of the respondent, that, too, tends to bode ill for the respondent (though less reliably).
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