Benchslap Of The Day: Sometimes Less Is More, Counselor

When it comes to appellate advocacy, issue selection is half — or actually more than half — the battle. If you represent the appellant, picking the right issue can be the difference between a headline-making win and a summary affirmance.

So with that in mind, try to avoid finding yourself in this situation (gavel bang: @BadgerPundit):

Holy overkill, Batman! Yes, appellate lawyers often worry about missing the winning issue, especially since judges can be unpredictable in terms of what catches their fancy. But raising almost 30 claims on appeal is… a bit much.

But all’s well that ends well. As Howard Bashman notes, the Pennsylvania Superior Court “soften[ed] the blow [to appellant’s counsel] by overturning [a] $38.5 million punitive damages award.”

Congratulations to Teresa Ficken Sachs, vice-chair of the appellate practice at Marshall Denehey Warner Coleman & Goggin P.C., on getting a great result for her client. Raising an excessive number of issues turned out to be “harmless error” in the end.

Pa. Superior Court criticizes appellate counsel [How Appealing via Twitter (@BadgerPundit)]

Earlier: 6 Tips For Appellate Advocacy (Especially If You’re Appellant’s Counsel)

---

David Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].