The State Bar of Texas Appellate Section is holding its Annual Meeting on Thursday, September 6, 2007. The meeting will take place at 5:00 p.m., immediately following the Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas.
The Annual Meeting will include a brief business meeting, a cocktail reception, and the performance of the winning entrees of the Appellate Lyric Contest.
In connection with the Annual Meeting, the Appellate Section is pleased to announce its first Appellate Song Lyrics Contest. Contestants must change the lyrics of a well known song to give it an "appellate" touch. This is a partial example:
"Appellate Man"
(To the tune of Billy Joel's "Piano Man")
Its nine pm on a Sunday
I worked all weekend again
There's a pile of transcripts sitting next to me
Waiting for me to dive in
And they ask, sir, can you write a compelling brief?
Can you find the hidden issues?
Just give me a week and it will be complete
And then I'll give you the news.
Hey look at me I'm Appellate Man
I'm a lawyer who knows how to write
But when I've got a deadline
All I do is whine
That I will be drafting all night
Prizes will include gift certificates for State Bar CLE programs, appellate books, and CLE materials. Of course, the real reward is the chance to have your name announced and your song lyrics read to the thousands in attendance at the Appellate Section Annual Meeting, not to mention being published and read by millions on the Section website and in The Appellate Advocate.
- All song lyrics must relate in some loose fashion to appellate law, appellate courts, or the appellate community. Lyrics may be for all or part of any well-known song.
- No more than one entry may be submitted per contestant.
- All entries must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 29, 2007, by e-mail to ssanfelippo@rosewalker.com.
- By submitting an entry, contestants: (a) certify that the submitted work is original, and (b) grant a non-exclusive license to the Appellate Section to read, use and publish entries in any form of oral, print, or electronic medium.
- Any entrant who is not a dues-paid member of the Appellate Section on September 3, 2007 is ineligible to win prizes. Any Appellate Section officer, member of the Annual Meeting Committee, or Appellate Song Lyrics Contest Judge is ineligible to win prizes. Persons who are ineligible to win prizes may still submit entries, which may be read at the awards ceremony and printed thereafter.
- Winners will be announced with much hoopla at the Appellate Section Annual Meeting on September 7, 2006 in Austin. The choice and number of prizes will be within the unfettered discretion of the judges. Decision of the judges is final and unappealable. Need not be present to win. Offer void where prohibited by law.
