Federal indigent defense on appeal: The First Circuit’s experience Peter B. Krupp, David Beneman

"It is quite true that there is enough difficulty in appealing as it is; but if there is to be no appeal at all possible the system would be intolerable." -L.J. Bowen

Appellate work is time-consuming, complex, and meaningful both for our clients and for creating precedent. Find helpful resources on appeals here.

This webinar focuses on the unique ethical challenges appellate attorneys encounter in their attorney-client relationships. Topics include the nature and scope of the client’s role and rights regarding the decision to appeal and the issues to be raised in the appeal, the attorney-client relationship when an attorney is pursuing an Anders brief, responsibilities when ending appellate representation, and overall communications with the client during the appellate process.

Taking the determined set of issues as its jumping off point, this webinar provides insight on how to draft a compelling brief, which includes source citation, more on issue drafting, as well as drafting the statement of the case and the argument and making the most of oral argument.

Appellate cases can be lost before they begin when attorneys fail to follow the unique and sometimes complex procedural rules and the impact of a case decision can rise and fall on the identification and framing of the issues. This webinar focuses on understanding the arc of an appeal from case assignment to conclusion to help attorneys avoid some of the major procedural pitfalls and provides practical advice on navigating the appellate process.

A Guide From the Academy for Justice’s Miscarriages of Justice Initiative

How are stakeholders finding relief for miscarriages of justice? Advocates have created a guide that gathers in one place new and creative offensive tools for consideration by post-conviction litigators, prosecutors, the wrongfully convicted, policy advocates, judges, and legislators. This article provides a summary of the guide.

With one suggestion for improvement, NACDL supports the proposed amendments to Fed.R.App.P. 35 and 40, which would consolidate and clarify the procedures governing petitions for panel or en banc rehearing, as well as petitions for initial en banc consideration.

NACDL encourages the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules to give serious consideration to the suggestion on your April 2016 agenda to extend to 30 days from the present 14 the time for filing a defendant's notice of appeal in a federal criminal case. (This period is measured not from the date of sentencing but from the date when the written judgment is entered on the docket, which might be the sentencing day but is often anywhere from a day or two to a few weeks later.) There are many reasons why this idea has merit beyond those noted in the Reporter's memorandum.

Opinion and Order

10th Circuit Opinion Reversed and Remanded on Jurisdiction in U.S. v. McGee

U.S. v. Maumau 20-4056 (10th Cir. April 1, 2021) appealed from No. 2:08-CR-00758-TC-11 (D. Utah)

Opinion from the Eleventh Circuit 

President Lisa Wayne's written statement to the U.S. Sentencing Commission regarding sentencing practices since the U.S. v. Booker decision.

NACDL President Chris Adams' letter to the New York state legislature regarding proposals to truly implement review of excessive sentences, suppression rulings, and streamlining the assignment of counsel in appeals as outlined in A5687/S1280, A5688/S1281, and A5689/S1279, respectively (2021).

Letter to the Judicial Conference Committee on Practice & Procedure regarding proposed rule changes to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.