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Appellate Practice Section

 

 

 

 

 

About the Appellate Practice Section

The State Bar of New Mexico Appellate Practice Section is an organization of lawyers and judges who handle appeals or are interested in appellate law. Our purpose is to provide our members, the judiciary, the State Bar and the public with information and dialogue concerning issues affecting appellate law. We are interested in the changing nature and development of the common law, and provide practicing lawyers with an opportunity to share ideas, legal research and networking to provide the highest possible quality of legal services, assisting appellate judges in rendering the highest quality opinions.

Membership in the Appellate Practice Section is open to any lawyer licensed in New Mexico who is interested in these issues. You may join the Appellate Practice Section if you are a member in good standing of the State Bar of New Mexico.

You may enroll at any time during the year; however, your membership will expire in December of the same year.

Email the Appellate Practice Section


Want to join the Appellate Practice Section? You have two ways of doing so!

  1. Still need pay your licensing fees? Simply check the Appellate Practice Section when completing your Licensing and Renewal forms. Join as many sections as you’d like while you are there!
  2.  Already paid your dues for the year? Login to your Member Dashboard (see top of screen). Navigate to ‘My Groups’ and click ‘Join Section/Voluntary Bars’. Select Appellate Practice Section and to pay the dues and join. You can join any section or voluntary bar at any time.

Brown Bag Lunches

During 2021, the Appellate Practice Section hosted two virtual Brown Bag Lunches with appellate court judges and justices. The first was on June 11, 2021, with Judge (now Justice) Briana Zamora and Judge Jacqueline Medina. The second was held on December 10, 2021, with Judges Zachary Ives, Megan Duffy, and Jennifer Attrep and Justices David Thomson and Shannon Bacon. The Section plans to continue holding these informal discussions with the appellate judiciary several times per year and will be considering returning to a live format at the State Bar Center or a mixed live/virtual format.


Appellate Practice Institute

The Appellate Practice Section held its 32nd Annual Appellate Practice Institute on September 10, 2021. This full-day CLE program has been offered annually for 32 years, and the 33rd Annual Appellate Practice Institute already has been scheduled for Friday, September 9, 2022. A copy of the 2021 API agenda can be found here. The Section hopes to return to a mixed live/virtual format in 2022, and hopes that Section members will join us.


Appellate Pro Bono Project of the Volunteer Attorney Program

The Appellate Practice Section encourages its members to participate in the Appellate Pro Bono Project of the New Mexico Legal Aid Volunteer Attorney Program. The Section has supported the development of this project since its inception, working with the Court of Appeals and New Mexico Legal Aid.  The Court of Appeals selects pro se appeals of legal significance, New Mexico Legal Aid screens the pro se litigants for their interest in and eligibility for legal assistance, and the VAP maintains a list of appellate attorneys willing to consider taking on such appeals.