I mean, appellate briefs are sort of lists anyways, right? "For these two reasons, ...." or "This court should X for three reasons," or "The trial court's conclusion was wrong in two respects...." It's all lists. We should certainly learn how to do them well.
Such a great point, and that's also usually how an OA starts! But then it can be easy to go off script or add in an extra reason and lose the panel by not implementing the list effectively.
Judges love lists. If I could write my appellate briefs in mostly list form, I would!
So true, Cherise! They are a great way to organize information.
I mean, appellate briefs are sort of lists anyways, right? "For these two reasons, ...." or "This court should X for three reasons," or "The trial court's conclusion was wrong in two respects...." It's all lists. We should certainly learn how to do them well.
Such a great point, and that's also usually how an OA starts! But then it can be easy to go off script or add in an extra reason and lose the panel by not implementing the list effectively.
Great point. The best oralists I've heard have fantastic and clear umbrella statements--lists--at the beginning.