When I am confronted with arguments and positions that challenge my personal beliefs, I rely on my faith in the justice system, Courts, and my personal faith to work through my self-doubt. Part of trusting that system means accepting my own role in the process. At this point in my career, it’s merely my job to make the most forceful arguments on behalf of a client, even if I vehemently disagree with how they behave or what they represent. I believe in the bottom of my heart that the system will reach the correct answer more times than not, and so I absolve myself of always having to fight for what I personally believe with respect to a case because I owe a higher sense of obligation to the system as a whole. 

I think we see this in Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech, where his belief in mankind and God gave him the courage to fight for racial equality. He accepted that the system was imperfect, and indeed, the system of governance in the country had been oppressing his people for his entire life. But he didn’t argue for turning away from the system. He fought to improve it with forceful arguments instead. I trust the capacity of the system to make my arguments legible, and because I believe in the ultimate justice of that system, I can validate my role in the process accordingly.

Heading into finals last semester, Jack was integral to keeping my spirits high when the grind wore me down. He would talk to me every day and encourage me to remember what I was there to do, often reminding me how short a few weeks were in the grand scheme of things, which gave me the focus I needed to keep studying as hard as I could. Over and over he would repeat “would you rather be sort of miserable now, or miserable on test day when you walk out of the exam and feel like you could have done more to prepare?” That became a sort of mantra for me, and I think it had a hugely positive effect on my performance.

It was interesting to see how my peers approached the argument. Others were much more focused on crafting the emotional story around the law, which is something I plan to do more of in the appellate brief. I think I was nervous about getting through all of the law in the short period we had to present, so I neglected to remind the Court of the stakes of the case. In hindsight, those emotional circumstances are crucial to delivering meaningful arguments about the law, since they inform perceptions of the police motivation and conduct. 

The exercise is a great way to learn preparation, which is as important if not more so than merely understanding the law well enough to write about it. It helps really hone in on what is crucial and ensures you can speak plainly about it. 

The first (2021 - 02275 People v Malik Stephens) was a criminal appeal for resentencing, reducing from two, one-year consecutive sentences to concurrent terms, and fighting an appeals waiver.

The second (2019 - 4215 People v Steven Espinal) dealt with a similar resentencing issue, seeking a reduction of sentence or alternatively seeking youthful offender status for an 18-year-old.

The archive may be found here.

I think the hardest aspect of oral argument is remembering to stay as formal as possible, especially in these mock exercises, where the setting does not really impose that formality the way an actual courtroom would, at least for me. I also had a hard time moving between discussions of open-ended legal questions and more fact-bound interrogations of my argument because the tone and forcefulness of argumentation are different. Pivoting from questions right back into argument, and providing signposts in so doing, is also a tough skill to practice. I think I felt like overall I gave a 3.5 performance. I certainly could have done better in my opening, and I feel like I have a better sense of what I need to prepare to succeed more in the future. I also just need some repetition in the skill to beat the informal lapses out of my presentation style. Overall, I do feel more prepared to handle oral argument moving forward, if only because I have a better sense of my weaknesses and verbal crutches. I look forward to practicing the skill more to develop it.

I genuinely hope I can call on you all to continue to mentor me, as your insights feel so fundamental to my growth. Moreover, I hope we can all remain in touch as friends far beyond this year.

Thank you again,

Andy