The pursuit of justice does not always end with the verdict of a judge or jury. Along with the right to a speedy, public trial, we have the right to challenge an unfavorable verdict, to appeal our case to higher courts. But whether they affect us by deciding our own case or, more likely, by ruling on a wide range of societal issues, neither the United States Courts of Appeal nor the state appellate courts are well understood. In this book, Senior Judge Frank M. Coffin, bringing over twenty-five years of experience serving the First Circuit Court of Appeals, takes all of us, citizens and attorneys, judges and journalists, inside the appellate courtrooms as well as behind the scenes into the judges' chambers. We see the wide range of appellate cases - from environmental, governmental, and criminal to cases testing the rights of handicapped persons, employees, prisoners, and others. We see how attorneys argue these cases - why some are successful, like the late legendary attorney Edward Bennett Williams, and how some lose, sometimes irreparably damaging their clients' appeals by committing basic yet avoidable errors. We are treated to an insider's rare view of the private work of judges - how they approach the practical task of reading the many pages of briefs, what they look for in attorneys' oral arguments, their interactions with law clerks, and the collegial dynamics of the all-important decision-making process with fellow judges. We see their minds in action as they write opinions that often open new legal approaches required by our modern and technological world. With much common sense, practical advice, and wit, Judge Coffin sizes up our unique court system as a major, and nowwell-portrayed, source of second-change justice for us as individuals and as a society.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Part history, part personal reflection, part handbook, this worthy guide to the appellate court written by a federal appeals court judge seems most appropriate for lawyers and court watchers. After sketching the different procedures for appeals in various legal systems and the relationship between state and federal courts, Coffin describes his own work, explaining how he reads lawyers' briefs and prepares for oral argument. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience, he recounts how judges discuss cases among themselves and offers useful detail about writing opinions, working with law clerks and achieving "collegiality" with co-workers. Most interesting is Coffin's ruminations on the nature of decisions: he admits to an eclectic approach that draws on everything from utilitarianism to sociology, and he observes wisely that the "much-discussed bipolarities of judicial restraint and activism" are easily manipulated concepts.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
How judges decide the cases they hear remains a mystery to most Americans. Judge Coffin parts some of this curtain of mystery and gives the interested reader a chance to observe the work of the federal appellate courts. While a useful description of the public side of the federal appeals process is given, the more informative part of the book is Judge Coffin's portrayal of his work style in his own chambers with his staff. This is all the more interesting since federal appeals judges live something of a monastic professional life compared with the more publicly visible work of the federal district (or trial) court judges. For other accounts of how judges work, the serious reader is advised to turn to Jack Bass's Taming the Storm: The Life and Times of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. and the South's Fight over Civil Rights ( LJ 1/93) and Jace Weaver's Then to the Rock Let Me Fly: Luther Bohanson and Judicial Activism (Univ. of Oklahoma Pr., 1993). Recommended for general readers.
- Jerry E. Stephens, U.S. Court of Appeals Lib., Oklahoma City
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Jerry E. Stephens, U.S. Court of Appeals Lib., Oklahoma City
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A TERRIFIC INSIGHT INTO THE LEGAL PROCESS AND ITS TRADITIONS,
By
This review is from: On Appeal: Courts, Lawyering, and Judging (Paperback)
Judge Frank M. Coffin has written a book that provides insight to the workings of the appellate process in our legal tradition. He peppers it with historical perspectives of the European foundations from which our legal system evolved. It was enjoyable, easy to read and enlightening. For the novice attorney writing his first appeal, it should be required reading. For the experienced attorney in the field, the book is a clear candid reference source. For the citizen who wants knowledge of the mysteries of legal process beyond the trial court, it is must reading. I unequivocally recommend the book to all with the further comment that the book is not a law book per se, but rather a rich resource to understanding the appellate process and its function in the Anglo-American legal system.
5.0 out of 5 stars
a must for any lawyer working on an appeal,
By A Customer
This review is from: On Appeal: Courts, Lawyering, and Judging (Hardcover)
Judge Coffin gives an insider's view of the appellate
process in the United States Court of Appeals for the
First Circuit. He tells exactly how his court processes
an appeal from receipt of the briefs, through oral argument
and on to the final decision. Along the way he tells
what works and what does not in brief-writing and oral
argument.
Read this book before you sit down to write a brief, and
then read it again the day before you appear for oral
argument
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