So is appellate advocacy. Prior to his current appointment, Justice Flannery served the Commonwealth for more than ten years as a Massachusetts Superior Court Justice. He began his legal career in 1958 as a trial attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice where he later became a Deputy Section Chief and then a Section Chief. The number of appeals has increased sharply in recent years. To say that groundless criminal appeals are not burdensome because their lack of merit is obvious at a glance, is incorrect.
Most judges go painstakingly through the haystack looking for the needle.
After all, the next appellant may be Clarence Earl Gideon. Such litigants and their lawyers may resemble well-meaning clients whose claims should, for good reason, not be pursued. I am trying herein to address appellants and counsel who are willing to consider an appeal to reason, fairness, and professionalism. Mass. R. App.