Effective Appellate Practice Before the Federal Circuit, 2 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 1 (2002)

Like our sister appellate courts, we are a “court of errors.” We do not re-try cases. Our charge is to review proceedings in the courts and administrative agencies over which we have appellate jurisdiction and to correct errors that affect the outcome of those proceedings. Our ability to do that effectively and efficiently depends in large measure on how well the members of the practicing bar bring the errors to our attention for adjudication. To assist the bar in this task, I make the following observations and offer a few suggestions on what I have learned about effective appellate practice from the briefs I have read and the arguments I have heard as a member of the Federal Circuit bench.