Appellate Division session gives students a close-up view

New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department judges Ann T. Mikoll, Anthony V. Cardona (presiding justice) and Paul J. Yesawich Jr., LL.B. '51, (judges Carl J. Mugglin and D. Bruce Crew III are not shown) listen to arguments during the court's proceedings in the MacDonald Moot Court Room of Anabel Taylor Hall Sept. 30. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

By Linda Myers

You had to pinch yourself to remember this wasn't a segment of "Ally McBeal" -- this was the genuine article, with real lawyers arguing their clients' cases and real judges adjudicating. But the half-day session of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department in Cornell's MacDonald Moot Court Room last Thursday, Sept. 30, was also a learning opportunity for first-year law students in Cornell Law School's Legal Methods course, who stayed to ask questions and discussed the cases later in class.

The court, a panel of five judges, heard lawyers for defendants and plaintiffs in 12 cases argue their clients' appeals of previous lower court rulings. Several of the cases involved personal injury and allegations of sexual abuse of children, unsettling some listeners in the gallery, which was open to the public as well as the Law School and campus communities. In contrast the judges seemed coolly professional throughout, only occasionally interrupting attorneys' arguments with sharply worded queries to clarify facets of a case. Clearly they came to court well prepared, having studied in advance the lawyers' briefs -- detailed descriptions of the cases and arguments for their clients. The judges' final rulings won't come until late November, after they've discussed the cases at length in chambers, then voted.

After the court session ended, one student asked the judges whether lawyers' oral arguments could really persuade them to change their point of view? Some arguments can be very persuasive, the panel of five concurred. "Maybe there's a problem in a case that hasn't been explained to my satisfaction," said Judge Paul J. Yesawich Jr., a graduate of the Cornell Law School (LL.B. '51). "The way you argue may very well influence the way I'll vote."

But the way a brief is written can also influence outcomes, according to Presiding Justice Anthony V. Cardona. "Think about it. Twenty cases a day five or six days during every two-week term, with 10 terms a year. That's a lot of reading. It helps to have a well-crafted brief, with the information presented in the right way."

This was good news to Senior Lecturer Carol Grumbach, co-director of the school's Legal Methods Program, who has been teaching students for years about the importance of writing a cogent and persuasive brief. But Grumbach, who also has written scores of briefs in her private law practice, was unnerved to hear Yesawich insist that a brief needn't be more than 15 pages long. "Some of mine can run to 30 pages," she confessed.

Lecturer Cynthia Bond, who also teaches Legal Methods at the Law School, met with her class shortly after the appellate session and quizzed them on what they'd observed in court and how it might shape their own actions as litigation lawyers after they graduate.

"Some of the lawyers were just plain scared of the judges," said one student.

The judges' questions can be intimidating, Bond conceded.

Another student drew a different conclusion: "After you go through that [kind of questioning], you're probably not afraid of anything."

A third was troubled by the emotional content of certain kinds of cases. She described how a plaintiff in a custody dispute approached a group of students after the court session and tearfully pleaded her case to them. "That's when it hit me that these aren't just cases in a book," said the student. "They affect people every day."

At the beginning of the court's session, Yesawich, who retires this year, was honored by the Law School for his distinguished and lengthy judicial career and his years of service to the school as an adviser and a mentor to students. Roger C. Cramton, the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law, presented Yesawich with a framed photograph of the school.