We will call the blog post title a belated April Fools’ Day joke because the Mississippi Supreme Court did not hand down any opinions today. In the absence of an opinion to summarize, I thought I would share some #AppellateTwitter cringe content that surfaced today.
No litigator likes to lose. Some losses are more frustrating than others. Motions for reconsideration and motions for rehearing are difficult to write and they demand finesse. I would submit that the tack taken by the appellant’s counsel described in per curiam decision from the Fifth Circuit below did not supply the requisite measure of finesse. As tweeted by attorney David R. Fine (who is not the appellant’s counsel referred to in the order):
Well, that strategy didn’t go so well. #appellatetwitter
Originally tweeted by David R. Fine (@finedr1965) on April 14, 2022.
The road to a great motion for reconsideration/motion for rehearing is not the easiest, but overtly insulting the court and court staff is a relatively easy ditch to avoid.
But Twitter did what Twitter does and stirred up some good commentary on how to approach motions for reconsideration/rehearing.
Happy writing. Be careful out there.
Other Orders
Singing River MOB, LLC v. Jackson County, Mississippi, 2019-IA-10630-SCT (denying motion for rehearing)
Magee v. State, 2019-CT-01794-SCT (granting cert petition)
Johnson v. State, 2020-CT-01308-SCT (granting cert petition)
Mississippi Appeals Blog 