I am delighted that the King County (Washington) Bar Association invited me to present to its members a 60-minute webinar on drafting effective amicus briefs and using them strategically. The webinar, presented live on March 14, 2022, was moderated by appellate litigator Rory Cosgrove of Carney Badley Spellman in Seattle. Rory is a former chair of the bar association’s Appellate Practice Section. His partner, Jason Anderson, is the current chair, and introduced the session.
Some of the many topics that we covered included:
- Who files amicus briefs, and why
- Where and when amicus briefs are filed
- Differences between petition-stage & merits-stage amicus briefs
- Key procedural pitfalls when filing U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs
- Do’s & don’ts for drafting persuasive amicus briefs
- Soliciting amicus support
- Amicus brief ethical considerations
Thank you Rory, Jason, and your fellow King County Bar Association members for the opportunity to speak about amicus briefs, which have become an important part of appellate practice.
