Section 1.40 Knowledge of the Case

• Library: App Ct Prac 2015 Supp

c. (§1.40) Knowledge of the Case

One reason lawyers handle their own appeals is the idea that they have superior knowledge of the case. Indeed, the trial lawyer does usually have excellent mastery of the facts of the case. The argument is “why have someone else learn all this from scratch?” But the truth is that the trial lawyer, in a sense, knows too much. The trial attorney may have lived too long with the case. The mind can fill up with facts and ideas, relevant and not so relevant, background and foreground. All of this is known through a filter of emotional commitment. But the appeal is not presented or decided on the complete history. The appeal turns on the formal record. The record does not have to be experienced by counsel, only mastered. This mastery is best obtained without the heart-felt involvement, which is natural to the trial lawyer.

Every record can be mastered. An...