It has become increasingly rare for an appellate court to grant oral argument for an appeal. In fact, in a small number of jurisdictions, courts will hear an oral argument only when a party requests it or the court actually orders it. Although numerous reasons exist for this diminution in the quantity of oral arguments, the most telling is the crushing workload appellate courts face today.
Not only has oral argument become less common, but the time allotted for oral argument has decreased. In the early 1800s, Daniel Webster argued for the appellant in Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward. The oral argument in that case lasted three days. Today, appellants and appellees are often limited to fifteen minutes or less of oral argument.
Thus, the cases that make it to oral argument typically are the ones that raise “important” or complex issues or include facts that are so complex that the judges or justices on the appellate panel reviewing the briefs encounter enough difficulty that they require clarification. This is indeed a select few of the enormous number of cases that the appellate court reviews, and the appellate party who receives oral argument should treat the situation with the importance that the appellate court accorded it. This Article will explore the importance of oral argument, and will offer suggestions on how to prepare for this critical event in the life of a case.