Judicial Branch

• Publication year: 2024
• Citation: Vol. 93 No. 4 Pg. 22
• Pages: 22

Judicial Branch93 J. Kan. Bar Assn 4, 22 (2024)Kansas Bar JournalAugust 2024

Setting Yourself Up for Success in the Kansas Supreme Court: A Conversation

By Meryl Carver-Allmond, General Counsel for Chief Justice Marla Luckert, Kansas Supreme Court

Depending on the type of law you practice, having a case heard by the Kansas Supreme Court can vary from a once-in-a-lifetime experience to a much more regular occurrence. While the facts and law of your case will ultimately determine whether you win or lose, most attorneys take pride in making a polished presentation. As a former advocate who now works for the Kansas Supreme Court, I recently had the fascinating opportunity to ask several of the justices — Chief Justice Marla Luckert, and Justices Evelyn Z. Wilson, Keynen "K.J." Wall Jr., and Melissa Taylor Standridge — what they think are important details litigants should consider as they are briefing and arguing their cases.^[1]Their responses have been stitched together in this lightly fictionalized conversation.

All right, so what are the most basic things you would tell an attorney preparing to bring a case to the Kansas Supreme Court?

Justice Wall: Be mindful of the different documents that you can file and the purpose for each.

Could you give some specific examples of that?

Justice Wall: Sure. So, for example, a petition for review should focus on the reasons listed in Supreme Court Rule 8.03 for why our court should grant a petition for review.^[2] It should not merely repeat the Court of Appeals brief.

Similarly, attorneys should be sure to take advantage of their ability to file a supplemental brief once a petition for review is granted.^[3] It may be due to lack of time or capacity, but many litigants don't file supplemental briefs. They are an ideal opportunity to dig into the nuances of legal doctrine and its application to the case at hand or to describe the nature of an alleged error by the panel below in more detail.

Justice Wilson: And you should also consider the rules about preservation for each issue on appeal or review. Even if you know the issue was preserved below, it's helpful for an appellate judge to read, "This issue was addressed below, so it is properly preserved," along with a citation to where the issue was preserved in the record.^[4]

And if another party files a petition for review, remember to consider filing a cross-petition or conditional cross-petition if there was any issue decided adversely to you in the lower court. Otherwise, that issue probably will not be considered by the Supreme Court. The result is that you may win a battle but lose the war.

Do you have anything to add to that Chief?

Chief Justice Luckert: I think it's important to understand appellate court deadlines, as they are different from what you might be...