Briefing Strategies: The Conclusion — An Underused Section

When preparing a brief, particularly an appellate brief, many lawyers do not use the Conclusion section to its full advantage. They simply write something like, “For the foregoing reasons, defendant requests that the Court reverse the trial court’s decision below,” or some similar phrase. In straightforward cases, perhaps that kind of Conclusion is all that’s needed.

But in complex cases demanding more energy and thought from the court, the Conclusion can and should be more. This is the lawyer’s last chance in the brief to persuade. The last chance to convince the court that your client, not his adversary, should prevail.

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