USER GUIDE (page 11)

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2. RESEARCH YOUR AUDIENCE

‘You must inquire about the acceptability of consequences, and this requires at a minimum that you have thoroughly researched the jurisprudential idiosyncrasies of the members of the court before whom you are appearing. Know the court. Know this court. Know the court that will be reading your briefs.’⁴⁹

Once you have identified the audience, research that audience as much as you can. For example, at an institutional level, consider researching the court’s—

• role
• powers
• procedures
• pressures,⁵⁰ such as:

time pressures
resource constraints
political pressures
public expectations

At the individual judge’s level, research matters like:

• the judge’s jurisprudential approach, such as their approach to:

text
intent
policy
precedent
tradition
consequences
national and international trends

• reputation, such as the judge’s reputation for:

writing judgments quickly, thoroughly, thoughtfully
stern sentencing
finding more often for plaintiffs or defendants in certain cases

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⁴⁹Ruggero J Aldisert, Winning on Appeal: Better Briefs and Oral Argument (2nd ed, 2003) 206 (emphasis original).

⁵⁰See also Steven D Stark, Writing to Win: The Legal Writer (1999) 139–41.