Illinois YMCA Youth and Government Judicial Program PreLeg

Illinois YMCA Youth and Government Judicial Program Pre-Leg II - 2017 1

Agenda n Big Group Stuff Part 1 (about 30 minutes) ¨ Introductions, Attendance, Other “Official” Stuff ¨ Review stare decisis and hierarchy of courts ¨ Legal Argument/IRAC n n Analysis of Cited Cases (about 90 minutes) Big Group Stuff Part 2 (about 30 minutes) ¨ Bench Memo Expectations ¨ Oral Argument ¨ Upcoming Dates/Schedule ¨ How to Reach Us for Help ¨ Wrap-Up 2

Review of Stare Decisis 3

Stare Decisis “Let the decision stand” n n Applying this principle involves an analysis of facts and rules surrounding the issue(s) before the court in the current case in light of earlier cases Analyze the corresponding facts and rules from the earlier case ¨ Determine if the earlier case is similar to current case at a material level ¨ If the cases are different, examine whether the differences are important or unimportant n If the issues and the facts surrounding those issues are the same, the result should be the same 4

Applying Stare Decisis n Ultimately, two arguments for attorneys: ¨ My case is just like this case… case is not like this case… (in fact, it’s more like this other case…) AND HERE IS WHY… 5

How Does this Apply to Y&G? n n n Appeal Facts define the 2 issues the Court is considering for that case Appeal Facts give 4 cited cases for each issue to be used as precedent For each cited case: Does the cited case have a result for the issue that you want the court to follow for the case at bar? Then analyze how the two fact patterns are similar at a material level (analogize) Do you want a different result for the case at bar than how the court ruled in the cited case? Then analyze how the two fact patterns are different at a material level (differentiate) 6

Organization of Illinois Courts State Courts Federal Courts U. S. Supreme Court Illinois Supreme Court Federal Circuit Court District Court of Appeals Federal District Court Circuit Court 7

Legal Argument 8

Legal Argument n I R A C (Learn it, Live it, Love it…) ¨Issue ¨Rule ¨Application ¨Conclusion 9

Issue n What is the Specific Issue presented? n Why does it matter? ¨ Remember to start with the most basic premise – the right to a fair trial n Where does that right come from? ¨ How does the issue affect whether the Defendant got a fair trial? 10

Rule n What is the rule of law with respect to your issue? ¨ Use ¨ If word-for-word quotes & jump-cites the cases reveal more than one “rule of law” n Use the Supreme Court’s version n Bolster it in your favor with the “rule” from other cases 11

Application n Find the fact-pattern in the cited case relevant to your issue from the case at bar. n Compare or contrast that fact-pattern in the cited case to the corresponding fact-pattern from the case at bar: Does the cited case have a result that you want the court to follow for the case at bar? Then show the two fact patterns are similar at a material level (analogize) Do you want a different result for the case at bar than how the court ruled in the cited case? Then show the two fact patterns are different at a material level (differentiate) n Describe how the rule of law from the cited case should be applied to the case at bar based on your comparison of the fact-patterns 12

Conclusion State your conclusion and the action you wish the court to take : “For the foregoing reasons, the [State-Appellee or Defendant-Appellant] respectfully requests that this court [affirm, or reverse and remand] the decision of the trial court with respect to the issue presented. ” 13

Anatomy of Cited Cases 14

Anatomy of Published Opinions n Caption The court ¨ The parties ¨ Case number ¨ Date decision ¨ n Case summary by the publisher ¨ n Not written or approved by the court – DO NOT CITE Head notes and key numbers Important to research ¨ Shortcut to finding statements of law and holdings ¨ Not written or approved by the court – DO NOT CITE ¨ 15

NOT a viable citation. Do NOT use LEXIS format Opinion begins here 16

Westlaw format Opinion begins here 17

The Opinion n Name of the judge(s) who authored and/or joined the opinion n Typical 1 st paragraph ¨ Summary of the procedural context and the issue on appeal n Discussion of the facts as established at trial n Review of the issues to be decided and their procedural context 18

The Opinion -continued n Discussion of each issue ¨ n Focus on the issue that relates to your issue in the case at bar Review of applicable law Statutes ¨ Cases ¨ n Application of the law to the facts of the case n Holding on each issue n Ruling Affirm ¨ Reverse and Remand ¨ n Concurrences and dissents 19

How to Analyze the Cited Cases (time to break out by Y&G case) 20

Bench Memo (cue the ominous music) 26

What Y&G is looking for n n Format and Appearance Writing Quality Legal Reasoning (Legal Argument) Legal Research But the priorities are: ¨ Legal Reasoning (12 points) ¨ Writing Quality (5 points) ¨ Format & Appearance (5 points) ¨ Legal Research (3 points) 27

Format and Appearance n Font ¨ n Preferred font/size is Times New Roman 12 point. Spacing Double-spaced ¨ 1” margins ¨ n Cover Page We will provide cover page templates on the Y&G website ¨ Reminder: Make sure you correctly list whether your team is for the Defendant-Appellant or State-Appellee!!!! ¨ n Argument Begin the argument for each issue on a fresh page ¨ Use IRAC ¨ n Conclusion ¨ Include a final conclusion on a separate final page with the general request for the appropriate action by the Court 28

Writing Quality n Clear and Concise writing ¨ ¨ n Professional tone is important First /second person (I/we/you) is not appropriate Consider your phrasing Have someone else outside the program read your draft ¨ n Make sure to check and double-check trial not trail; whose vs. who’s, etc. Look for comma splices, noun/verb agreement, etc. Tone ¨ ¨ ¨ n Don’t try sounding too fancy Don’t overuse thesaurus Grammar, Punctuation, Spell-Check ¨ ¨ ¨ n (maybe not a ton of points for this category, but problems here can cost points for Legal Reasoning too…) If it doesn’t make sense to others, try again Don’t count on your first draft being your final draft!!! 30

Make sure you are clear in what you are communicating! Proof-read and re-write. 31

When in doubt about comma needs, check! 32

Legal Research n n n Y&G uses closed research We provide you with 4 cases for each issue You MUST use all 4 cited cases in each argument 33

Legal Reasoning Each Argument has two issues presented ¨ Start each Issue Presented section of your argument with a heading that is a declarative sentence stating your position n Examples from this year’s cases/issues? ¨ Follow IRAC in your written presentation n Issue – state the issue n Rule – state the rule(s) of law n Application – apply the law to your facts n Conclusion – state your conclusion and what action you want the court to take Or more specifically… 34

Legal Reasoning (continued) n IRAC ¨ Issue n What is the issue, why does it matter, how does it affect whether the defendant received a fair trial? ¨ Rule n Give the general rule(s) of law applicable to your issue (quote it/them, cite it/them) ¨ Application n Organize the four cases in an order that makes sense n Discuss each of the four cited cases ¨ ¨ ¨ Which one(s) are binding precedent? Explain why the ones “for you” are similar to the case at bar Explain why the cases “against you” are different from the case at bar and whether the differences are significant ¨ Conclusion n State your conclusion & request court decide in your favor (“For the foregoing reasons…”) 35

Oral Advocacy “In a nutshell” 36

Oral Argument n What is an oral argument? ¨A n conversation among lawyers How do you start? ¨ “May n it please the court…” Order of argument ¨ Defendant-Appellant goes first (has the burden of proof) ¨ State-Appellee goes second ¨ Defendant-Appellant gets rebuttal 37

What You Need to Cover in Oral Argument n Hit the high notes ¨ What is the main point of your issue on appeal? ¨ What facts and law support it? n n Anticipate the other side’s arguments and address them ANSWER THE QUESTION ¨ The question presented for your issue ¨ Each question asked by a Justice 38

Dates to Remember n Bench Memo due : January 22 (e-mail “postmark”) n Prepare to serve as a Justice - Review other Y&G case & cited cases : 1/22 - 2/23 (or so) ¨ Can also begin work on Oral Argument n Receive opponent’s brief : 2/26 - 3/2 (or so) n Finalize Oral Argument n Springfield Main Event : 3/16/18 39

How to Reach Us for Help easy way: ILYGJudicial@gmail. com 40

Judicial Resources – Y & G web-site www. ilymcayg. org 41

Judicial Resources – Y & G web-site 42

Remember… The email link currently built into the Y&G web-site is for general program inquiries only. It does NOT route out to any specific program area… Do NOT use this link to reach out with Judicial questions. Do NOT use the “Contact Y&G” link under the “About Y&G” spot in the web-site top bar for the same reason. Click here 43

How to Reach Us For Help This will allow one to send a message but will not allow attachments. 44

Plan your work & time so you can turn in your best effort by the January 22 nd deadline ! See you in Springfield ! 45