Managing Risks

Although it is important that an appellate brief be artfully drafted, victory on appeal may turn more on whether trial counsel had the forethought to ensure that an issue was preserved. This article reviews the general rules regarding preservation and explores the narrow exceptions to that rule that have been recognized by Colorado appellate courts. It then provides some practical suggestions for preparing for appeal during trial and beyond.

This article was originally published in the Pikes Peak Lawyer, October 2015, the official publication of the El Paso County Bar Association. Read More→

I started my legal career with several years clerking at the Colorado Court of Appeals, and appellate law is one of my practice areas. I usually work as co-counsel with trial attorneys who feel less comfortable with appellate briefs. Recently, the Colorado Court of Appeals issued a 3-0 opinion in my client’s favor. This got me thinking about principles for practicing appellate law and winning as often as reasonably possible.

A multi-chapter resource by Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, Esq. and Dr. Brent Lindquist about when missions think that a family needs receive counseling, but the family doesn't want to go.

Plaintiffs and defendants both need to have an idea how much a case is worth. If you are thinking about filing a case as a plaintiff, you need to know if it will be worth going through the hassle, emotional stress, and costs. You need to know whether you should settle, and for how much, or if you should take the case to trial. If you are a defendant, you need to know what kind of financial impact the case could have. You must know what you are up against, when a settlement offer is reasonable, and when it is too much to pay.

These blogs about when and how to apologize got me thinking of the other part of this process, that of forgiveness. People frequently have a hard time knowing when to forgive.

Can you sue the government? Even if you can, why would you want to?

In answer to the first question, you can sue (or file some kind of legal action) against “the government” in certain limited situations.

A multi-chapter resource by Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, Esq. and Dr. Brent Lindquist about apologies and legal liability.

Why would you hire an attorney rather than do it yourself with help from a CD or website? Aside from providing knowledge and skills you may not have, a good attorney should help you by thinking in certain ways. Let’s examine some of those ways.

Attorneys and sometimes other intellectuals get teased that they “think like a lawyer.” (Perhaps the real problem is “talking like a lawyer,” which is boring, incomprehensible, or both.) “Thinking like a lawyer” is the point of three expensive years of law school.

As law clerks for the Colorado Court of Appeals, we read briefs each week and analyze them with our judge. In addition, our job regularly involves appellate writing that conforms to the standards discussed in this article. These experiences provide us insight into writing persuasive and effective briefs that can strengthen your appellate advocacy.