This post first went out as my November 2026 newsletter. To get future issues by email, subscribe at the end of this post.
You haven't seen me in your inbox for a few years. Much has changed since then. The AI revolution has arrived. Everyone is experimenting with LLMs (Claude helped me redesign this newsletter). Some lawyers are using AI poorly. And courts have begun writing rules to govern our use of it in litigation.
This first issue of my relaunched newsletter (1) reintroduces my practice, and (2) explains how I use AI—and how I don’t. I hope to be in your inbox once a month with practical points on appeals and motions, notes on AI and the courts, and my current availability.
What I do
Appeals and complex motions for attorneys and firms
I’m an appellate attorney. I handle the heavy lifting – analysis, research, writing – that is required to articulate your client's position and persuade the judge to rule in their favor. I work with your firm as Of Counsel; your name stays on the brief; and I bill on a flat fee basis (email me for a project estimate). Use me for tasks like:
§ Appellate briefs — opening, responding, reply, and related motions
§ Complex motions — summary judgment, dismissal, amending claims or defenses, new trial, reargument, renewal, and leave to appeal
§ Oral argument — in New York state and federal courts
As your Of Counsel, I can handle briefs for appeals and complex motions in any US state or federal court, as well as immigration proceedings (including the BIA and Circuit Courts).
AI and my legal analysis
Augmentation, not automation
I use AI tools to augment my legal analysis, not automate it. AI makes my issue spotting and fact-law synthesis better, not faster. I read every fact in the record and every case I cite. And I always write my own briefs because, as the (excellent writers at the) Economist noted recently:
Real writing is not writing at all. It is thinking; specifically it is thinking: “What do I think?”
(The Economist article is behind a paywall, but email me and I'll send you a gift link).
Legal writing, especially the appellate kind, is all about "what do I think?" AI tools can't think for you, which is why they can't automate appellate/complex motion work. Using AI to save time on legal reasoning also exposes you to fatal mistakes like hallucinations. I use AI tools to supercharge my legal mind, as I carefully check every word and citation in the ready-to-file brief that I send you.
For more about AI, read my recent note comparing New York’s Part 161 and California’s SB 574, and my AI learning list.
Currently booking
Appeals and substantive motions with deadlines the week of December 1 or later. Book my legal mind at least three weeks before your deadline.