What Are Appellate Advocates?

Answer 1

In the legal world, the term advocate comes with a bit of respect. Go to any law school campus and you are likely to see a group of students who call themselves the Advocates of some sort of cause. Along those same lines, appellate advocates are attorneys who petition on behalf of their clients up a few rungs of the appellate chain. The system is somewhat complicated in that it is comprised of trial courts and several levels of appeals courts. There are state courts for this purpose and federal courts, too. Appellate advocates use the appeals system to try and bring about the fairest result for clients.

What is the appellate system?

In the judicial system, it all starts with the lower courts. These are typically called trial courts and they will include a judge and a jury in most instances. This court gets the first try at cases and there is usually a fair resolution. Many cases will progress beyond that point, though. A person who loses at the trial court level can petition for a court of appeals to take a look at the case. The appeals court will look at the process behind the original trial. They will not change any reasonable jury judgments, but they can make changes if the trial court has erred in applying the law.

Advocating in a persuasive sense

An appellate advocate takes his client's case and argues a position in a way that is designed to persuade the judge or judges sitting on the appeals court. There is an oral argument that takes place, but the written portion might be the most important. Appellate advocates will paint their position in the light most favorable to their client, helping the court see a certain line of reasoning over some other line of reasoning. This is what it means to advocate for a client or for a client's position. Appellate advocates can take their cases higher and higher, as there are many levels of appellate courts.

Ultimately an appellate advocate has to have a certain type of personality to find success over the long run. It takes an attorney who can both write and speak with conviction. It also requires an ability to understand what judges are looking for. Judges are interesting creatures and they often look for different things than the juries who make the decisions in the lower courts.