AN APPEAL TO REASON

Happy New Year!

2011 promises to be a year of changes, at least for me. I started off this year by taking over fifteen years' worth of articles and inputting the printed versions into my scanner. This was part of my resolution to have a greener office and reduce paper files. Little did I realize how much I had written over the years until the articles were collected into a single pile, which is now destined for the trash can.

When I write my articles, I try to keep things fresh. Of course, over time some of those articles are outdated and the laws have changed. As I scanned each article, my eyes would pick up on a phrase or two. I could see that I was giving some of the same advice back in 1996 that I am giving to this day. Some things never change!

Through the years, many of you have thanked me for my articles and advice, but I always worried that a piece of advice buried in an article from 2003 would not be remembered when you most needed it. Despite our best intentions, articles tend to be read and then mostly forgotten. If we save them, they are put in a file that we seldom pull out. If you are like me, your organizational skills may leave something to be desired and finding written articles is not always that easy or convenient.

I have also given seminars on appellate issues. Attorneys tell me that they learn some valuable tips at my seminars, but again, my fear is that my advice will be forgotten when the need arises.

So, I decided to take my knowledge, gained after over 30 years of experience in appellate law and summarize my tips in a book that was easy to reference. I have spent months working on my book and it is nearing completion. My plan is to print it as a hard cover book. For those of you who prefer to read online, the book will also be available as an e-book.

The focus of my book is on providing tips on appeals to trial attorneys who are working at the trial court level. At that point, trial attorneys are often working without the assistance of an appellate attorney and before the need for an appeal arises. The trial attorney is usually focused on winning at trial. But the trial attorney needs to know how to protect a potential appeal at the trial court level so that when an appellate attorney comes on board, the appeal is free of mistakes that will hurt the case at the appellate level.

In the coming months, I will let you know my progress and when you can order my book.