A practitioner may search for court decisions shedding light on the thinking of a particular judge on a particular subject. That mysterious creature, the Clerk, however, is cloaked in anonymity. Yet, it is likely to be the Clerk who will read the briefs first, and, depending on a particular local practice, will either write a research memo for a judge, or prepare either the first draft of an opinion or an order disposing of the case. Writing Dos and Don'ts 1. Cite to all three reporters, with pinpoint cites.
Appellate courts cite to both official and commercial reporters.
Very often, the only set easily available for cite-checking by the Clerk is Illinois Decisions. The Clerk will do this, but while muttering about the high fees charged by the attorneys of record, who expect someone else to do their work. Occasionally, when a lawyer has no case, the Clerk will encounter a brief arguing about the oranges instead of the apples. The author recalls a brief in which a lawyer impugned the integrity of the courts and of a particular trial judge. In addition to impugning the judge's integrity, the lawyer impugned the judge's intelligence.