Althouse: Acrimony about acronyms.

June 7, 2014

Acrimony about acronyms.

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Laurence Silberman is SOYOA.

What a CCOAJ! Maybe he STAR. IRIVF. You know, if you stay in D.C. too long AAGTDYC.

5 comments:

Saint Croix said...: The IRIVF is like a spike in the face. And then the ball explodes, killing nine.; 6/7/14, 7:59 PM
The Godfather said...: I only appeared in the DC Cir. a couple of times, the last at least 15 years ago, so I don't remember the rules. But as counsel you ARE supposed to read and FOLLOW the local rules.

That said, abbreviations or "hereinafter citeds" are almost essential in writing a brief that won't drive the judges (or their law clerks) crazy. If a party is The Consolidated School District of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, NC (not the real name -- I exaggerate for emphasis), you can't just repeat that full name over and over scores of times in your brief. Of course, you could tell the court that you're going to refer hereafter to The Consolidated School District of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, NC as "the School District", but that won't work if there are several other school districts involved in the case.

Aside from the rules, an advocate needs to remember that, when the court starts to read his/her brief, it often knows much less about the details of the case than counsel does. You don't want the judges to think you're talking down to them, but your first job is to educate them, and only then can you persuade them. Throwing in a bunch of unfamiliar acronyms may show how "smart" you are, but if it doesn't communicate to the judge(s), it ain't smart.; 6/7/14, 9:22 PM
From Inwood said...: On an informal thread I'm on, one of the guys, a self-proclaimed sports expert & who writes things like "RBI" & "ERA", chided me for using acronyms when I tried to explain things legal, he not being a lawyer.

There's a fine line between being a showoff as opposed to just trying to avoid the situation described so well by The Godfather here, but, IMHO, while I can blow off my friend & tell him NASA (Not Another Stupid Acronym), one can't ignore the POV of the Hons of the courts; 6/8/14, 11:38 AM
Kevin said...: I am a charter member of the SPUA.

The Society for the Prevention of Unnecessary Acronyms©.; 6/8/14, 3:57 PM
SPN Headlines said...: Here's some super duper acronyms:
http://www.spnheadlines.com/2010/03/new-nut-groups-are-replacing-acorn_24.html; 6/8/14, 9:37 PM