The Appellate Wanderer

Jul 13 2023 19

The Appellate Wanderer Podcast artwork

We lawyers love to travel: but litigation is geographically bound. We're allowed to practice only in states where we're admitted. International practice is nearly nonexistent. And even cases with international aspects are limited to American courts. This podcast seeks to explore appellate litigation across the world. How do appellate courts in other countries work? What do their appellate lawyers look like? What do they do better than us? And what can we learn from them as we build our own system. Join Raffi Melkonian, @RMFifthcircuit on social media, in exploring the world of appeals.

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Episode 4: Mikael Swahn and the Lay Judges of Sweden

Jul 13 2023 59 mins

This time, I'm honored to speak with #AppellateTwitter international stalwart, Judge Mikael Swahn, of the Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm, Sweden. Judge Swahn is my first European guest, and was able to tell me in great detail about the Swedish system. Most remarkable, Sweden allows for full plenary review of all judgments in the intermediate courts of appeals, and includes l

Episode 3: Andrew Bernstein and the bilingual paradise of the Canadian Supreme Court

Jun 19 2023 57 mins

In this third episode of The Appellate Wanderer, I talk to Andrew Bernstein, a partner at Torys who practices appeal and clerked for former Chief Justice Lamer of the Supreme Court of Canada. We had a lovely talk about how Canadian appellate practice differs and is similar to that of its cousin in the United States. We speak about Andrew's "origin story" to law scho

Episode 2: Jason Mitchell, and the Courts and Law of South Africa

Jun 10 2023 61 mins

In this episode I talk about the extraordinary legal system of South Africa with Jason Mitchell, an experienced South African advocate. We discuss the South African legal system and Jason's experience at an American law school. We then move to discuss the fact that South Africa offers a split legal system between "attorneys" and "advocates" (like the solicit

Episode 1: Eduardo Tagle and the Mexican Supreme Court

May 28 2023 55 mins

I'm an appellate lawyer in Houston, Texas, at the law firm of Wright, Close & Barger LLP. On twitter, I'm jokingly called the "dean" of #AppellateTwitter. I love to practice appeals. But one dissatisfaction I have about life as a lawyer is how bound we are to our own countries and states. I may have international clients, but that work never takes place overse