Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup September 4

Each week, the Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup presents a few tidbits of news and Twitter posts from the past week concerning appellate advocacy. As always, if you see something during the week that you think we should be sure to include, feel free to send a quick note to either (1) Dan Real at DReal@Creighton.edu or on Twitter (@Daniel_L_Real) or (2) Catharine Du Bois at DuBoisLegalWriting@gmail.com or on Twitter @CLDLegalWriting.

US Supreme Court News and Opinions:

The Administrative Office of U.S. Courts announced in a news release last week that four new U.S. Supreme Court Fellows are set to begin their fellowships for the 2020-21 term, starting in September and working virtually during the COVID-19 crisis.

Federal Appellate Court News and Opinions:

The Vetting Room, a blog dedicated to discussing judicial nominations, featured a post last week discussing state appellate court judges that could be likely candidates for nomination to the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal if President Trump wins a second term in this fall’s election. The blog formerly discussed current U.S. District Court judges who were likely candidates under a second Trump term in a previous post and likely candidates under a Biden presidency in a separate post.

Perhaps the biggest news from the federal appellate courts last week was the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit holding that the U.S. District Court can move forward with questioning the attempt of the Justice Department to dismiss charges against Michael Flynn.  Howard Bashman at How Appealing collected a plethora of links to various sources reporting on the story.

Appellate Practice Tips:

Last week, #AppellateTwitter member Rafi Melkonian posted a Twitter thread in which he discussed two days of Zoom oral arguments.  Lots of great thoughts and personal experiences that should be read and considered by any advocate preparing for a “virtual” oral argument.