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Eleventh Circuit Appellate Practice Institute (ECAPI)

ECAPI is a continuing legal education program created by the Appellate Practice Sections of the Alabama, Florida, and Georgia Bars. Many of the Eleventh Circuit judges, along with well-known appellate practitioners, will be speaking and participating in the CLE programs and in social gatherings.

Noon - 1:00 p.m. Registration

1:00 p.m. - 1:10 p.m. Opening and Welcome

Linda Julin McNamara, Senior Counsel, Oberheiden P.C., Tampa, Florida

1:10 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. The Clerk’s Office and Motion Practice

David J. Smith, Clerk of Court, United States Court of Appeals for the

Eleventh Circuit, Atlanta, Georgia

Peter F. Busscher, Chief Deputy Clerk, United States Court of Appeals for the

Eleventh Circuit, former Supervisory Motions Attorney, Atlanta, Georgia

Moderator: Matthew J. Conigliaro, Shareholder, Carlton Fields, Tampa, Florida

2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m. Conversation with Noel Francisco, Former Solicitor General of the United States

Moderator: Henry Charles Whitaker, Solicitor General of Florida

2:50 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Break

3:00 p.m. - 3:50 p.m. Supreme Court Update

Michael Dreeben, partner and member of Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation

Group, O’Melveny & Myers, Washington, D.C.; former Deputy Solicitor General,

United States Department of Justice

Moderator: David P. Rhodes, Tampa, Florida; Assistant United States Attorney and

Appellate Division Chief, United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida

3:50 p.m. - 4:40 p.m. Emerging Issues in the Use of Technology in Appeals

Devin Desai, Associate Professor of Law and Ethics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Scheller College of Business

Mark O. Reidl, Associate Director of the Georgia Tech Machine Learning Center,

Professor, Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing, Atlanta, Georgia

Moderator / speaker: Larry Sommerfeld, Chief of Appeals and Legal Advice, U.S.

Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia

4:40 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Institutionalizing the ECAPI

Moderator: Amy Weil, The Weil Firm, Atlanta, Georgia

6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception at the Tampa History Center Sponsored in Part by the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Federal Bar Association

Day 2

Friday, October 20, 2023

8:15 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast and Welcome

The Honorable Charles R. Wilson, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

9:00 a.m. - 9:50 a.m. Ethical Dilemmas Facing the Appellate Practitioner

The Honorable Charles R. Wilson, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

James E. Felman, Partner, Kynes Markman & Felman, Tampa, Florida

Hala Sandridge, Shareholder and Appellate Practice Group Leader, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Tampa, Florida

Moderator: Beverly Pohl, Of Counsel, Nelson Mullins, Boca Raton, Florida

9:50 a.m. - 10:40 a.m. Trends in Legal Writing

The Honorable Adalberto Jordan, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

The Honorable Britt C. Grant, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Moderator / speaker: Jeff Anderson, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Lawyering and Legal Reasoning Program, Cumberland School of Law, Birmingham, Alabama

10:40 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Break and move to break-out rooms

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Hot Topics

Civil

Brigid Cech Samole, Shareholder and Chair of Appeal & Legal Issues Group, Greenberg Traurig, Miami, Florida 

Kevin Golembiewski, Director of Advocacy, Education, and Outreach for Disability

Rights Florida; Former Deputy Solicitor General, Florida Attorney General’s Office; former clerk to Judge Charles Wilson

Moderator: Jennifer W. Corinis, Of Counsel, Greenberg Traurig, Tampa, Florida

Criminal

John Shipley, Assistant United States Attorney and Senior Counsel with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida

Moderator: Emily Smachetti, Assistant United States Attorney and Senior Litigation Counsel, Appellate Division, United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida

12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch and Keynote Address

State of the Eleventh Circuit, The Honorable William H. Pryor, Jr.,

Chief Judge of the Eleventh Circuit

Moderator: Linda Julin McNamara, Senior Counsel, Oberheiden P.C., Tampa, Florida

1:45 p.m. - 2:35 p.m. Best Practices for Oral Argument Preparation

The Hon. Gregory G. Katsas, United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

Robert Parker, Chief, Criminal Appellate Section, Department of Justice Criminal Division, Washington, D.C.

Henry Charles Whitaker, Solicitor General of Florida

Moderator: Scott Burnett Smith, Partner and founder of the Appellate Litigation

Practice Group at Bradley Arant Bolt Cummings LLP, Huntsville, Alabama

2:35 p.m. - 3:25 p.m. View from the Bench

The Honorable Elizabeth L. Branch, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

The Honorable Andrew L. Brasher, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

The Honorable Robert J. Luck, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Moderator: Emily Smachetti, Assistant United States Attorney and Senior Litigation Counsel, Appellate Division, United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida

3:25 p.m. - 3:35 p.m. Break

3:35 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Lessons Learned on Preservation of Error from Classic Legal Movies: An Interactive Video Experience

United States Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Jenkins, Tampa, Florida

Moderator: Raymond T. Elligett, Jr., Partner, Buell & Elligett, PA, Tampa, Florida

4:30 p.m. Adjourn

Linda Julin McNamara, Senior Counsel, Oberheiden P.C., Tampa, Florida