Views from the Bench: Interviews with Leading Women Appellate Jurists. Insights into effective briefing and oral argument as well as advice for those considering a path to the bench

• Author: M.C. Sungaila
• Pages: 9-18

Appellate Practice

American Bar Association Litigation Section

Winter 2022, Vol. 41No. 2

© 2021 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof maynot be

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December 21, 2021

Views from the Bench: Interviews with

Leading Women Appellate Jurists

Insights into effective briefing and oral argument as well as

advice for those considering a path to the bench.

By M.C. Sungaila

Previously, for theWoman Advocatenewsletter, we interviewed women appellate judges

about their paths to the bench. Now, for theAppellate Practicenewsletter, we once again

reached out to state and federal appellate judges across the country to get their insights

intoeffective briefing and oral argument as well as advice for those considering a path to

the bench. Here are their answers.

Frank Hull, Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the

Eleventh Circuit

What was your path to the bench?

There is no one way, or even primary path, to the appellate bench. The journey is short for

some, long for others; simple for some, complex for others. While some early on in their

career have a purposeful goal to be an appellate judge, for me it was being in the right place

at the right time with the right professional experience. While the process always varies,

there were some key ingredients for me.

For starters, in 1973–1974, I was among the first few women to clerk on the U.S. Court of

Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. I was privileged to serve as a law clerk to the Honorable Elbert

P. Tuttle on the Fifth Circuit. My first job clerking for a federal appellate judge gave me keen

insight into the diverse legal work of an appellate judge. My law professors at Emory Law

School instilled in me a passion for the law—not just one subject, but everything from

criminal law to civil procedure, to torts and property, and even tax and domestic relations.

If you like only a narrow area of the law, appellate judging may not be for you.