Appellate Webinar Series, Session 7: Standard(s) Time – Strategies for Winning Under Every Standard of Review

This will not be your standard “standard of review” presentation. Moving beyond a mere review of the standards, this program will focus on how we can maximize our chances to win in the courts of appeals under any standard of review. While emphasizing briefing strategies for prevailing on clear error, abuse of discretion, and plain error claims, we’ll also explore how to best navigate mixed questions, respond to harmless error arguments, get around draconian preservation rules, and flip the script on the standard of review when we’re the appellee. Throughout, we’ll highlight examples of great litigation from around the country as well as a number of circuit splits, ensuring that this webinar will be of service to both seasoned appellate practitioners and those who may tackle appeals only periodically.

Presenter: John Arceci is Senior Counsel at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Denver, where he focuses on appeals across the Tenth Circuit and complex motions practice in the district courts of Colorado and Wyoming. A graduate of Brown University, the Whitney Museum’s ISP Fellowship in Studio Art, and Vanderbilt University Law School, he joined the FPD after federal and state clerkships and has spent his entire legal career as a public defender. Mr. Arceci is a member of the Tenth Circuit’s Pattern Criminal Jury Instruction Committee and serves on the Board of Directors of the Faculty of Federal Advocates, where he chairs the CLE Committee.

CLE: We have applied for CLE accreditation in states that have mandatory requirements. We regret that we cannot respond to telephone inquiries regarding the status of CLE approval prior to the webinar. All information related to CLE will be emailed to attendees within 15-30 days following the program.

• To minimize reporting fees per attorney/program, if you are barred in more than one of the following states NM, TN, PA, NE, attendance will be reported to one state only.
• The attorney is responsible for making sure the appropriate state and bar number is on file with the DSO Training Division.
• For applicable states, attendance will be reported using the bar number and state(s) listed on the registration form submitted for this program.
• Failure to provide the state and bar number may result in the Training Division not being able to report your attendance.