Understanding some basic principles about the various courts and their powers will help you to make decisions as you prepare your written and oral arguments.

Your arguments will be different if you are writing a brief to a trial court as opposed to an appellate court. Even within the appellate system, you may argue differently to an intermediate court of appeals as opposed to a court of last resort. On the one hand, intermediate courts of appeals must hear every appeal (with few exceptions)¹ and must follow the decisions of the courts above them. Courts of last resort, on the other hand, usually have some authority to decide which cases they will hear²and the authority to make new law.

This chapter briefly explains principles of appellate jurisdiction before discussing how writers can use the appropriate standards of review in both appellate briefs and motion briefs.