1. James D. Ridgway

2.  The views expressed here are my own.  I am not here to talk about the CAVC or any of the judges of this Court.

3.  Complete Lack of Natural Talent  Collegiate Public Speaker  50+ Arguments as an Appellate Prosecutor

4.  Oral Argument is an Art, Not a Science.

5.  The Goal of Oral Argument  Finding Your Focus  Engaging the Opposing Argument  Preparing Your Presentation  Working With the Judges at Argument  Analyzing Your Performance  Conclusion

6.  To Win

7.  To Have the Court’s Opinion Say Exactly What You Want  Plan the Parenthetical

8.  To Control the Conversation in Which the Decision is Made

9.  Finding the Heart of Your Argument  What Question Do You Fear?  Reread the Opposing Brief!  How Big is the Heart?  5 minutes  7 sentences

10.  J OHN M AEDA, T HE L AWS OF S IMPLICITY (2006)  “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.”  Sub-points  Same Rules Apply  Roman Numeral Outline Plan

11.  What Is the Story of Your Argument?  What Happened?  What Should Have Happened?  What Happens When You Change the Facts?  Do You Have a Good Analogy?

12.  What Is the Nature of the Legal Argument?  Is this About Interpreting the General Rule?  Is this About an Exception?  Is this About the Interaction of Multiple Authorities?  Are they Exclusive or Overlapping?

13.  “Same”/ “Different”  Quotations

14.  Your notes are just to jog your memory.  You will have far, far more information than you will ever get to in your argument.  You need to have key information pop out at you.

18.  Apples v. Oranges  “Appellant/Appellee would be correct IF... ”  What is your key authority? What is theirs?  Identifying Weaknesses  A NTHONY W ESTON, A R ULEBOOK FOR A RGUMENTS (3d ed. 2000).

19.  Setting Up Questions  “Appellant/Appellee cannot cite a page in the record where...”  “Appellant/Appellee cannot cite a case in which the Court held X without fact Y.”  “Not one case relied upon by the Appellant/ Appellee involves fact Z, which is true in this case.”

20.  Practice Out Loud  Imprint Your Argument  Practice Cadence, Too  Arguing With Sound Bites  Avoid Adjectives  “Canning” Common Issues  Moving Around Your Argument  Cut Up Your Outline

21.  Answer Questions  Return to Your Focus  First, Last, Most Often  Making Concessions  Watching the Bench  Pencils  Facial Expressions  Do Not Attack Opposing Counsel ... Directly

22.  Reviewing Your Argument  Reading the Opinion  Rereading Your Brief

23.  “If the Audience Did Not Understand You, Then You Failed to Communicate.”

24.  Persuasion is About Influencing the Conversation in Which the Decision is Made.  Oral Argument is About Setting Forth and Defending Your Core Theory.  Engaging the Opposing Argument is Critically Important.  Craft and Rehearse as Many Phrases as Possible Beforehand.  At Argument, Let the Judges Go Where They Want to Go, and Then Bring Them Back.  Take Opinions as Feedback.

25.  Cases are Won and Lost on the Briefs.