From the Editor's Desk
Siobhan Helene Shea*

It is one thirty in the morning, as I wrap up this first issue of Appellate Issues, the ABA Council of Appellate Lawyers online journal. Editing has been for the most part fun, as the writers are appellate advocates and professors, dedicated and thorough writers all.

As I continue this third year in the Council for Appellate Lawyers, having served on the Executive Board and gone through the growing pains of a fledgling organization, I am happy to see that our leadership circles are growing and with them, the numbers of members from across the country. It is this diversity in experience, advocacy and judging that makes membership in CAL invaluable and unique. Perhaps this is simplistic - but I like simplicity the best - I am reminded of my daughter's exercises in overlapping sets or circles in school. We are joined as a national organization by our common experiences, interests and goals: excellence of appellate advocacy and judging. As technology erodes the barriers to other jurisdictions, our online journal and resources and national committees, rich with experience in other jurisdictions, become ever more relevant to state and federal practitioners.

As appellate lawyers and judges, we have an awesome responsibility because the causes, freedom and very lives of individuals we represent and judge are at stake. For many we are the last source of justice. The causes we advance may become published decisions whose established precedent impacts the causes of all who follow. In some cases appellate decisions influence society and can spark debate over our most deeply held values. Eg. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 152 (1973).

From the moment I graduated law school and went to work for a federal criminal appellate lawyer in Miami, I knew what I wanted from the practice of law. I had just been sworn into the bar when I had the opportunity of a lifetime to work with three law professors to challenge the interdiction and political asylum screening of Haitians risking their lives on the high seas to escape political persecution. The cases were argued in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals against Kenneth Starr, who was then Solicitor General of the United States. I learned a powerful lesson in the appellate process, the importance of judicial expediency and a vigorous adversarial system and above all: a judiciary independent of political opinion.

I am an appellate attorney because I love the law and justice. Appellate advocacy allows us to focus on the law and the issues we think are important, removed from ego and with a clear set of facts.

I am also an appellate attorney because I enjoy the freedom appellate practice gives me to balance my time as a mother, wife, community activist, bar leader and equestrian. Practicing from my home on a horse farm, I can tap into the internet and prepare a brief to file on the other side of the state. If I spend an afternoon with my kids I can spend the night writing and researching. I believe that living balanced lives within the greater fabric of society leads us to greater work as attorneys and judges: it keeps us in touch with what makes us human, gives us perspective and refreshes our spirit.

CAL gives us the opportunity to connect both as lawyers and judges, providing forums of expression for what makes appellate lawyers and appellate law tick. CAL is interested in hearing from you, as a lawyer, a new member of CAL, professor of law, or founding judge. What articles would you like to see published? Do you have an story or expertise to share with CAL members?

Please write to me at:
Siobhan Helene Shea
Editor, Appellate Issues
Box 2436
Palm Beach, FL 33480
shea@sheappeals.com

I hope you enjoy this copy of Appellate Issues and will forward it to a friend.
Sincerely,
Siobhan Helene Shea

* Editor Siobhan Shea is an appellate attorney in private practice in Palm Beach County, Florida. She is the Editor of the Record, the Journal of the Appellate Practice Section of the Florida Bar and serves on the Appellate Rules Committee of the Florida Bar. Shea is also the President of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers.