The Oklahoma Bar Journal February 2023

1) If there are more than 20 words in a sentence, there better be a darned good reason. 2) Write the purpose of each paragraph in the margin to evaluate organization. 3) Read the opinion from the losing party’s perspective and ask yourself, “Even if I don’t agree, is it well reasoned?” 4) You are not finished until you have read it aloud. JURISDICTIONAL SCREENING The Supreme Court has a duty to inquire into its own appellate jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of the court below. 26 The Supreme Court and the Court of Civil Appeals may, and often do, issue show cause orders and sua sponte dis miss appeals for untimeliness, lack of appealable order and moot ness. 27 The appellee may also seek to dismiss the appeal by motion or in the answer brief. 28 MOTIONS TO RETAIN The Supreme Court may retain an appeal on the court’s own motion or pursuant to a motion to retain. 29 If you file a motion to retain, use the three pages to focus on whether:

it is. All your arguments should be built around the proper standard of review. HEADINGS How you separate and phrase the propositions of error and the headings and subheadings in the brief are additional tools you have to achieve clarity and simplicity. 14 Subheadings can make compli cated issues more easily digestible. Also, use headings to separate alternative arguments ( e.g. , “Even if the court finds …”). If you use poignant headings and subhead ings, the subject index in the front of your brief alone should tell the court why the case should be decided in your favor. 15 CITE TO AUTHORITY Briefs are often submitted with sparse citations. You must cite authority to support each proposi tion of error. 16 “Argument without supporting authority will not be considered.” 17 Finally, if you have a first impression issue and there is no Oklahoma law on point, cite relevant case law from other juris dictions. It may be persuasive. ment. 18 “[A] mere assertion, in general terms, that the ruling of the trial court is wrong will not be considered as having been made.” 19 I often see bold, conclusory state ments that the trial court erred or should be affirmed followed by a case citation and nothing more. Connect the dots. How should the proposition of law and/or facts of the case cited inform the court’s analysis in this case? Is it analo gous? Misplaced? Can it be distin guished? If there is authority that directly cuts against your position, acknowledge it and argue with specificity why that case should not control in the present matter. MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT You must make your argu

REPLY BRIEF Filing a reply brief is optional. 20 If you choose to file a reply brief, respond directly to arguments made in the answer brief. New arguments should not be raised for the first time in a reply brief. 21 At the same time, a reply brief rehashing arguments made in your brief in chief has little value. PARALLEL CITATIONS FOR OKLAHOMA CASES OSCN is the official publisher of Oklahoma appellate court deci sions. 22 The Pacific Reporter is the unofficial reporter. The Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules require parallel citations to both OSCN and the Pacific Reporter . 23 Cite to the specific paragraph number for the OSCN citation and the pin point page number for the Pacific Reporter if it is available to you. 24 OKLAHOMA STATUTES Historically, the official Oklahoma Statutes have been published in hardbound volumes every 10 years and then updated annually with supplement volumes. However, the state is no longer authorized to purchase and distribute the hardbound volumes. 25 The navy blue 2011 decennial statutes and the 2020 supplement were the last volumes printed and widely distributed to judges, government offices and public libraries. Many practitioners reference other com pilations of the statutes, e.g. , OSCN, “green books” and Westlaw. This change should not affect your legal research methods, as these sources continue to be updated. LEGAL WRITING Through the years, I have devel oped some guidelines for writing clear, concise, well-reasoned pro posed draft opinions. These guide lines may also assist the advocate:

1) The issues involve an area of law undecided in Oklahoma; 2) Different divisions or

panels of the Court of Civil Appeals are not in accord on the issues raised on appeal; and 3) The issues raised on appeal concern matters that will affect public policy, and any decision is likely to have widespread impact. 30

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL