Kutak Rock litigation partner Dwyer Arce recently oversaw the organization and editing of the 2023 update to the Nebraska Appellate Practice Handbook published by the Nebraska State Bar Association (NSBA). As a member of the Executive Committee of the NSBA Appellate Practice Section, Dwyer was appointed Chair of the Appellate Handbook Revision Committee. In this role, Dwyer assisted NSBA Executive Director Elizabeth Neeley, Ph.D., and NSBA publications coordinator Sarah Ludvik in identifying contributors, editing submissions, and finalizing the Nebraska Appellate Practice Handbook for publication.
The Nebraska Appellate Practice Handbook was last updated in 2016. Since that time, the Nebraska Supreme Court has enacted substantial reforms to the rules governing practice in Nebraska’s appellate courts through the Modernization of Court Rules Project. These modernizing reforms took effect January 1, 2022, implementing significant changes to the requirements for briefing, motions practice, record preservation, and all aspects of appellate practice in the Nebraska Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
The Nebraska Appellate Practice Handbook is a comprehensive resource on Nebraska appellate practice, covering topics such as civil and criminal appeals, appellate motions practice, formatting requirements for appellate briefs and other submissions, required citation styles, requirements for preserving the record on appeal, and oral argument, among others. The manual is now available for purchase on the NSBA website.
Outside of his service on the NSBA Appellate Practice Section Executive Committee, Dwyer serves as a member of the Nebraska Supreme Court Committee on Practice & Procedure, and as chair of the NSBA Practice & Procedure Committee. Dwyer also serves as State Chair for the Virgin Islands in the American Bar Association Council of Appellate Lawyers. He recently completed a one‑year term as the President of the Virgin Islands Bar Association, and currently serves as a member of the Virgin Islands Bar Association Appellate Practice Committee and the Pennsylvania Bar Association Appellate Advocacy Committee.
Dwyer’s practice focuses on appellate proceedings in state and federal courts nationwide, in addition to commercial trial litigation primarily in state and federal courts in Nebraska, Iowa, and the Virgin Islands. Dwyer was recognized as a “Lawyer of the Year” for appellate practice in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® and has consistently been recognized for his appellate practice and commercial litigation practice by Best Lawyers®. Before entering private practice, Dwyer served for several years as the senior law clerk to Justice Maria M. Cabret of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands.