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FOR ORAL ARGUMENTS BEFORE THE MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT
When watching the oral arguments, you will hear the following words or phrases. These make up the outline of the court calendar (or agenda) for each day’s session. For more information, please refer to the website links listed below.
The Crier bangs the gavel to call the Court into session.
The Justices file into the courtroom in the order in which they are seated.
The Chief Justice calls each case to be heard.
The attorney for the appellant presents his/her argument for initiating the appeal.
The Justices may ask questions of that attorney at that time.
The attorney for the appellee’ presents her/his argument.
The Justices may ask questions of that attorney at that time.
The attorney for the appellant may then use time for a rebuttal, if they so requested and had reserved time during their initial oral argument.
If several cases have been argued together due to similar legal issues, the attorney for each appellant and each appellee’ is allocated approximately fifteen minutes for their argument.
EXPLANATION OF TERMS
USED IN THE ORDER OF BUSINESS FOR ORAL ARGUMENTS
Appellant A person who initiates, or starts, an appeal from one court to another.
Appellee’ The party in a lawsuit against whom an appeal has been taken.
Chief Justice The highest judicial officer of the State of Michigan. Chosen chief justice by
the other members of the Supreme Court.
Crier The person who calls the court into session and announces the end of the
session. Crier also serves as timekeeper and records official actions taken by the Court.
Justice A title given to judges who sit on the "court of last resort", e.g. The
Michigan Supreme Court.
Rebuttal To answer or explain, to disprove evidence produced by the other party.
RELATED WEBSITES
www.courts.mi.gov The Michigan Supreme Court is in the process of updating this site.
www.michbar.org The State Bar of Michigan maintains this site and is constantly adding new information.
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