Appellate Law

More on Grisham's The Appeal

By D. Todd Smith

Following up on this post, I finished reading John Grisham's The Appeal this past weekend.  As some reviews have noted, the story is more about the politics of judicial elections than the actual appellate process, which is barely mentioned at all.  I laughed out loud, though, when I read the following passage:

In Atlanta, Jared Kurtin passed the file to the firms appellate unit, the eggheads, as they were known, brilliant legal scholars who functioned poorly in normal circles and were best kept in the library.  Two partners, four associates, and four paralegals were already hard at work on the appeal when the massive transcript arrived and they had their first look at every word that was recorded at trial.  They would dissect it and find dozens of reasons for a reversal [at 103].

This reminded me of my big firm days, although no one referred to our group as "eggheads" (more like "nerds," I think).  We also didn't staff even the largest matters with two partners, four associates, and four paralegals.  At current rates, that kind of coverage would ring up about $3,000 an hour.

I didn't find the book to be as much a "bully pulpit for reform" as some, though the Author's Note does speak out in pointed opposition to judicial elections.  It's classic Grisham—David versus Goliath with political undertones, but withGoliath reversing his fortune 5 votes to 4.  The timing is interesting, but I wouldn't take it for anything more than an easy, fairly entertaining read.

Full post as published by Texas Appellate Law Blog on February 20, 2008 (boomark / email).