Media Mention: Chris Edwards Featured in NCAJ’s Trial Briefs Magazine

Appellate attorney Chris Edwards authored an article in a recent issue of Trial Briefs, the official publication of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice.

The piece, “Discretionary Review: Tips for Getting Your Petition Allowed,” offers practical guidance for attorneys navigating the North Carolina Supreme Court’s discretionary docket following the 2023 repeal of dissent-based appeals by the North Carolina General Assembly. Chris outlines three strategies for strengthening petitions:

Successful petitions often have a familiar pattern, replicated not only at our Supreme Court but in other courts of last resort, including the United States Supreme Court. Here are three tips, which, if used correctly, should improve your chances of obtaining discretionary review.

First, start by explaining why the issue in your case is important to the parties and other litigants. Many attorneys wrongly assume their petition should start with a merits argument. That’s not true; in fact, it may hurt your chances of review. Two of the three criteria for allowing review are totally unrelated to the case’s merits and, instead, consider its importance. Even though you’ve spent countless hours building your merits arguments, start your petition thinking about the bigger picture.

Chris is a board-certified specialist in Appellate Practice who focuses exclusively on appellate litigation in state and federal courts. He brings additional perspective from his clerkship with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

To learn more about two other strategies for strengthening petition, read the full article, now available.