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ON OCTOBER 6, 2022, THE DELAWARE STATE COMMITTEE AND THE SUPREME COURT OF DELAWARE CO-HOSTED AN APPELLATE ADVOCACY PROGRAM FOR YOUNG LAWYERS IN PUBLIC SERVICE. THE PROGRAM WAS THE BRAINCHILD OF JUDICIAL FELLOW COLLINS J. SEITZ, JR., THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF DELAWARE. SIXTEEN PUBLIC SERVICE LAWYERS, PREDOMINANTLY FROM DELAWARE’S DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND OFFICE OF DEFENSE SERVICES (BOTH OF WHICH ARE HEADED BY FELLOWS), SIX JUDGES (INCLUDING THREE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF DELAWARE AND THE PRESIDING JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT), AND EIGHT FELLOWS CAME TOGETHER FOR AN AFTERNOON WITH THE GOAL OF AFFORDING A UNIQUE LEARNING OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE LAWYERS.
The afternoon began with comments from Chief Justice Seitz, who discussed the challenges for young lawyers to obtain hands-on opportunities and his desire to provide a comfortable environment for young lawyers to practice and
from the panel. While the judges were tremendously impressed with the quality of the arguments, they were able to pro-
The mock case raised two issues related to a search warrant issued based upon location data collected by the government from a cell phone app. To challenge the advocates to think creatively, they were assigned the opposite side from the one they would represent in their daily practice (i.e., prosecutors represent- ed the defendant, while the public defenders represented the government). And to allow the advocates to focus their preparation on their oral argument itself, questioning was limited to the contents of the case record and bench memo provided to all participants—with outside legal research prohibited.
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to learn from experienced lawyers and judges.
The participants then adjourned to four separate courtrooms where four lawyers presented oral arguments to a three-judge panel made up of sitting judges and Fellows.
vide tips for each advocate to consider in advance of her or his next oral argument.
After reconvening, the participants were treated to a roundtable discussion on appellate advocacy featuring the Chief Justice, along with the heads of the ap- pellate divisions of the Department of Justice and Office of Defense Services. Collectively, the roundtable participants have participated in hundreds of appeals. After discussing issues spanning the en- tire appeal process, from identifying is- sues for appeal through preparing for and delivering the oral argument, the panel took questions from the young lawyers in the audience.
Following the roundtable, the partic- ipants adjourned to the Wilmington Club for a cocktail hour to celebrate the
The hour-long oral arguments were the highlight of the program. Hot bench- es peppered the advocates with challenging questions concerning both the le- gal issues and the factual record, which the advocates handled skillfully. At the conclusion of the arguments, the advocates received individualized feedback