Go To Top of Page United States Court Of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Continuing Education Seminar
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
1:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
1:00 - 1:10 -- Raymond P. Moore, Colorado-Wyoming FPD - a few introductory words.
1:10 - 2:00 -- Betsy Shumaker, Clerk of Court, and SueAnn Fitch, CJA Supervising Attorney, Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Local Rules/Procedure and CJA Vouchers/Appointments.
2:00 - 3:15 -- A Potpourri of Pitfalls and Predicaments.-- Jill Wichlens, John Carlson and Vicki Mandell-King. A discussion of various appellate problems encountered over the years -- from the record to argument -- and the solutions.
3:15 - 3:30 -- Break
3:30-4:45 -- The eSSence of SuceSS: Spotting, Standards, Slicing and Selecting. Howard Pincus, Madeline Cohen and David Johnson lead a dialogue addressing the standards of review, issues and argument sections of an opening appellate brief.
4:45 - 5:30 -- Scripted Q&A with Panel of Tenth Circuit Judges. Norm Mueller and Vicki Mandell-King moderate a query-and-response discussion of local appellate practices with a panel of Tenth Circuit judges.
Local Rules of Procedure. Betsy Shumaker, Clerk of Court, Tenth Circuit. This session will address proposed changes in the Tenth Circuit local rules for 2008, as well as the December 1, 2007 change to Fed. R. App. 25(a)(5) regarding privacy concerns. The session will also cover changes in procedure at the Tenth Circuit resulting from the court's conversion to a new electronic case management system. Finally, we will address the interplay between the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and the local rules, and what that interplay means for practitioners.
Criminal Justice Act. SueAnn Fitch, CJA Supervising Attorney for the Tenth Circuit. Guidance on: completing CJA voucher submissions, excess fee memos, notice of discretionary fee reductions, current payment/ reimbursement rates, withdrawing as counsel on appeal and taking appellate CJA cold-record appointments/the appellate CJA panel. A local CJA handbook will be available free of charge.
A Potpourri of Pitfalls and Predicaments. Jill Wichlens, John Carlson, and Vicki Mandell-King will moderate an interactive discussion of problems in the appellate process encountered over the years - and the solutions. Topics will include: completing the record; maintaining a good relationship with the client; motions practice in the Circuit; structuring a long brief; avoiding Anders; managing a big cold-record appeal and making the certiorari decision.
The eSSence of SuceSS: Spotting, Standards, Slicing and Selecting. Howard Pincus, Madeline Cohen and David Johnson lead a panel discussion on the issues and argument sections in an appellate brief. They will lead a dialogue covering: selecting issues based on the strength of the facts and law, the remedy, and the standards of review; developing the law on open questions; life after Rita; the Bousley problem; and more.
Scripted Q&A with Panel of Tenth Circuit Judges. In order to be effective, an appellate advocate should know his/her audience. Moderators Vicki Mandell-King and Norm Mueller will query a panel of Tenth Circuit judges about local appellate process. This dialogue will give the participants insight into what the local judges expect in their briefs and oral arguments and a better sense of what it is like to practice before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
John T. Carlson. John Carlson is an appellate lawyer at the Federal Public Defender in Denver. His experience includes practicing criminal defense and employment law, work as a legal services lawyer on the Navajo reservation, and a stint as a staff attorney at the Tenth Circuit. He lives in Boulder with his wife, a University of Colorado law professor, and his 7-year-old daughter Lucy.
Madeline S. Cohen. Madeline Cohen is an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Denver. She specializes in handling habeas corpus cases in both the federal district court and the court of appeals, as well as criminal direct appeals. Madeline joined the Colorado-Wyoming Federal Public Defender's Office in January 2002, following several years as a litigator with the Denver law firms Morrison & Foerster and Hogan & Hartson. While in private practice, Madeline handled civil and criminal appeals in jurisdictions around the country. She also represented death row inmates in federal habeas proceedings at all levels. Following her graduation from Stanford Law School in 1996, Madeline clerked for the Honorable Betty B. Fletcher, on the Ninth Circuit.
SueAnn Fitch. In 2005 the Tenth Circuit commenced a major revision of its Criminal Justice Act Plan and CJA voucher review process. As part of that update, the court hired SueAnn as CJA Supervising Attorney to interface with the Court's newly appointed appellate CJA Standing Committee, coordinate the newly created appellate CJA attorney panel, organize educational opportunities for appellate CJA attorneys, and assist the Court with its review of appellate CJA vouchers. A former teacher, she graduated from University of Denver College of Law in 1980 and was a Colorado state deputy public defender from 1980-1985. Since then SueAnn has been a general litigator. She gained substantial fee application experience in large reorganization matters.
David E. Johnson. David Johnson is a Research & Writing Specialist in the Office of the Colorado-Wyoming Federal Public Defender. He joined the Office in October 2006. David is a graduate of The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, and he received his undergraduate degree from The George Washington University.
Vicki Mandell-King. Vicki Mandell-King is the Chief of the Appellate Division, Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Districts of Colorado and Wyoming. After working as an attorney for the Tenth Circuit's Staff Counsel and clerking for Judge Breitenstein, Vicki joined the Federal Defenders in 1980. She has done trial and appellate work, habeas and capital appeals. She enjoys teaching appellate advocacy nationally with the NLADA and with the Federal Defender Writing Program. Vicki is a published poet, and believes that this work she does is equally creative and rewarding.
Norman R. Mueller. Norm Mueller received his J.D. from Yale Law School. He served as chief appellate deputy for the Colorado state Public Defender. He is a member of Haddon Morgan Mueller Jordan Mackey & Foreman PC., and specializes in trials and appeals in the state and federal courts. He has served on the Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Appellate Rules since 1986. He previously served on the Colorado Supreme Court Committee on Criminal Rules and on the Colorado Lawyer Board of Editors. He is a member and past president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar and currently serves on its Amicus Committee, is also member of the Tenth Circuit's Appellate Criminal Justice Act Standing Committee and a Tenth Circuit Co-Chair for the Amicus Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Over the years, he has lectured on various appellate advocacy and ethical issues.
Jill M. Wichlens. Jill Wichlens has been an appellate attorney with the Federal Public Defender for the Districts of Colorado and Wyoming since 1990. Prior to that, she was an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Raleigh, North Carolina, law clerk to the Hon. Herbert N. Maletz, United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. She holds degrees from Colorado College, Washington University School of Law, and Georgetown University Law Center.
Howard Pincus. Howard Pincus graduated from Brown University in 1983 and the University of Michigan Law School in 1986. After clerking for a judge on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and for a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, he worked for the American Civil Liberties National Security Litigation Project. Howard then spent four years at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City litigating criminal appeals. During his last two years at OAD, Howard also supervised other attorneys in the office and trained associates at major law firms to handle criminal appeals. Since 1995, he has been an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Denver, handling habeas corpus cases and appeals.
Elisabeth Shumaker. Elisabeth A. (Betsy) Shumaker presently serves as Clerk of Court for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. She joined the court's staff in January of 1990 and since that time has served in various capacities including staff attorney, chief deputy clerk and circuit executive. Prior to coming to the court Betsy was in private practice where she focused on various types of civil defense work. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Suffolk University Law School.