13.5.3 THE CONCLUSION
Although the court will often control the amount of time you spend talking about particular points, the good advocate is aware of the passage of time and tries to provide an effective conclusion to his or her argument.
In many courts, a podium light system is used: A green light is displayed throughout most of the argument; a yellow light signals that time is running short (how short varies from court to court — e.g., there may be two to five minutes remaining when the light turns on); and a red light signals that time is up. Counsel should never stop the court from asking questions in order to conclude. However, if the court is quiet, and the yellow light is on, counsel may decide to conclude rather than to launch into his or her final (and perhaps weakest) point. If you are arguing before the United States Supreme Court, or another court that requires you to preserve your time for rebuttal, you might look for a way to conclude early.Like the conclusion to a brief, the conclusion to an oral argument should be short and sweet. At a minimum, it should tell the court what you want it to do. In an appellate argument, you will typically be asking the court to affirm, reverse, or reverse and remand a decision; in a motion argument, you will be asking the court to grant or deny the motion. If more time is available, counsel may want to recap the main reasons that support his or her conclusion, as in the following conclusion that might be appropriate for the petitioner in Miller v. Albright:
Even in the area of immigration, Congress does not have the authority to pass a law that violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. Section 1409(a) denies equal protection to children of men who are U.S. citizens. Rather than promoting family ties between a father and a child, Section 1409(a) prevents those ties from developing further. For all of these reasons, this Court should reverse the decision of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Thank you.
If you are still in conversation with the court when your time elapses, you must acknowledge that time has run out and ask for permission to continue. If the court is asking you a question when your time elapses, pay careful attention to the question and plan your answer. Before answering, however, inform the court that time is up and ask if you may have time to answer the question. Most courts will give you permission. Unless you are asked still more questions, segue from your answer into your conclusion. Even if you have a strong, dramatic conclusion planned, do not use it if time has already elapsed, even if the court has given you permission to continue. This is the time to move to a onesentence conclusion, e.g., “Therefore, because Section 1409(a) makes unconstitutional distinctions based on gender stereotypes, this Court should affirm the decision below. Thank you.”27