Tips from the Judges
| Publication year | 2013 |
| Pages | 49 |
| Citation | Vol. 42 No. 3 Pg. 49 |
By Andrew M. Low
Columns Appellate Practice
About the Author
Andrew M. Low is a partner in the firm of Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, Denver —(303) 892-9400, andrew.low@dgslaw.com. Low heads the firm’s appellate practice. Appellate Practice articles are published quarterly.
Tim Flegleman’s wedding to employment litigator Amy Krasner was only three months away. Susan and Rod Victor were to be maid of honor and best man and, to our surprise and delight, my wife and I also had been asked to be in the wedding party. It was going to be a big event, with a long guest list that included family members, lawyers, judges, and law professors.
Krasner had asked the wedding party to attend a Saturday morning informational meeting at Flegleman's office, which was in a converted old mansion on Capitol Hill. We gathered in a conference room on the main floor for Krasner's briefing. She thanked us for agreeing to participate and then went over a long list of details, from the bridesmaid dresses to the plans for the reception. When she was done, Flegleman invited us to stay for a simple buffet lunch in a conference room across the hall.
We filled our plates and found seats around the conference table or stood and talked. A lively buzz of conversation filled the room, as members of the wedding party took turns offering Flegleman and Krasner their congratulations. Susan Victor found herself seated next to Tenth Circuit Judge Alicia Gonzales, who partnered with Flegleman at area tango competitions. Victor had been a judge on the Colorado Court of Appeals, and she and Gonzales found much to talk about.
"You know what really baffles me?" Gonzales asked rhetorically. "Insulting petitions for rehearing. Apparently, some lawyers think the most persuasive way to get us to reconsider our ruling is to tell us we're idiots. My all-time favorite is a petition that said our opinion exhibited an 'unsophisticated pseudo-analysis of Rule 702, marking an inexplicable and cavalier disregard of well-settled principles of law.' That one didn't take long to deny."
"I've been on the receiving end of a few of those myself, " laughed Victor. "I found it was just as bad when lawyers spent page after page vilifying their opponents, repeatedly accusing them of 'misrepresenting' or 'distorting' the law or the record." She made air quotes with her fingers. "Those lawyers seemed to...
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