Written Assignment
Due Date: February 28, 2019 – before midnight
Purpose. To gain an understanding of courtroom arguments in an appellant setting.
Task. Select a case that is pending before the Nevada Supreme Court or the Nevada Appellate Court.
First review the Appellant and Respondents briefs. You do not need to read the other pleadings, just the
briefs. Watch a live feed of the oral arguments, or a previously recorded oral argument for your
selected case.
After reading the briefs and listening to the oral arguments write a paper describing what you
saw/heard. What did you think about the process of appellate review? What was the issue(s) before
the court? Did the Justices ask a lot of questions? How formal were the proceedings? Were the
attorneys prepared? Did reading the briefs help you understand the issues?
The Paper: You should write a paper of approximately 500-700 words concerning your observation and
review of the written briefs. There should be two sections to your paper. Be sure to label each section.
I. Courtroom Observations. In this section describe what you saw/heard of the oral
arguments. Give the date, and name of the case, and a general synopsis of the case. Was
the issue related to civil or criminal law?
II. II. Reactions and Analysis. Here you should give your personal reactions to and analysis of
the proceedings. Were you surprised by anything you saw? Shocked, or even bored? Did
the proceedings match your expectation of what a court of review does?
Your written report should be at least 500-700 words long.
Completion of the Assignment: Time permitting, I will set aside time for class discussion regarding your
experiences. The assignment is worth 25 points.
The links below provide the calendars for arguments and access to the briefs
Nevada Supreme Court Website: http://nvcourts.gov/supreme/
Calendar of Arguments: http://nvcourts.gov/Calendar.aspx
Synopsis of Upcoming Oral Augments:
http://nvcourts.gov/Supreme/Arguments/Upcoming_Oral_Argument_Synopses/
Copies of Briefs: http://caseinfo.nvsupremecourt.us/public/caseSearch.do

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