Common Knowledge about Appellate Briefs: True or False?

We receive advice on an endless number of topics from a wide-range of sources throughout our lives and our careers: our parents, siblings, and other relatives when we are young, professors and tutors in college, and associates, partners and other peers after we begin to practice law.And that does not even account for the innumerable articles, books and other media sources we read, see or hear over the years that tell us how others have solved problems and what is the "best" way to do just about anything.Whether we acknowledge it or not, there is an obvious caveat included with any advice we receive.Is it any good?Is it reliable?And if we believe that it is, why is that so?Are we simply accepting it on faith, based in whole or in part on its source?Or are we simply trusting that the common wisdom on a particular topic is correct?There is no shortage of advice and common knowledge when it comes to appellate brief writing, as anyone who practices appeals knows.Seemingly everyone has an opinion on how best to write a brief to persuade appellate judges to rule in your client's favor.