20. Is the appellate court likely to consider the energy corporation's new argument?

On appeal from the final judgment, the energy corporation argued for the first time that under the federal act, the corporation could not be held liable. The residents of Country A argued that the court of appeals should not address this new argument.

Residents of a foreign country, Country A, sued an American energy corporation in federal court. The residents asserted violations of a federal act based on human rights abuses committed in Country A by Country A military personnel who had been hired by the American energy corporation. The district court found for the American energy corporation and the residents of Country A appealed.

No, because it is beyond the appellate court’s jurisdiction to decide issues that were not presented to and decided by the district court
No, because the appellate court may not consider new arguments, which encourages parties to raise all issues at the trial level, where such adjudication is proper
Yes, because the appellate court has the discretion to hear new issues regarding matters of law, despite the general reluctance to hear arguments not presented in the trial court
Yes, because the appellate court has the discretion to hear new issues if there is an adequate factual record to support a review of the particular issue

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The general rule is that new issues may not be raised for the first time on appeal. However, there are exceptions. Pure matters of law may be considered on appeal, even if not properly presented in the trial court when all the necessary facts are complete in the record. The appellate court may substitute its judgment in a pure interpretation of the law for the judgment of the trial court. This includes the applicability of a particular statute in a given case.

C is correct. Even though the general rule is that appellate courts do not hear new issues on appeal, they may exercise discretion and make exceptions, including with pure questions of law.

Here, the appellate court may consider the energy corporation's new argument because the energy corporation has raised a question of law. Moreover, the residents of Country A will not be prejudiced by this argument since they will have an adequate opportunity to argue this issue to the court of appeals.

A is incorrect. Although the general rule is that appellate courts only hear issues presented in the trial court, exceptions exist in certain circumstances. As such, it is incorrect to assert that appellate courts may not invoke discretion to hear new issues; they may do so when, for example, pure questions of law arise, as is the case here.

B is incorrect. Although this policy is valid and supports the general rule that appellate courts do not hear first-time issues, these arguments do not always prevail. Whether to entertain issues raised for the first time on appeal is regarded as within the court's discretion. Appellate courts will frequently hear new issues when they are issues of law as to which either no factual record is required, or the factual record already made is adequate.

D is incorrect. This answer reaches the correct answer with incorrect legal reasoning. While the appellate court has the discretion to hear issues for the first time, even if not raised at the trial court level, there is no rule requiring a certain threshold of factual support that is deemed adequate to allow the appellate court to do this. Moreover, the type of facts that would be pertinent to supporting the energy company's claim (e.g., legislative history of the statute) may easily be brought in through the parties' briefs.

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20. Is the appellate court likely to consider the energy corporation's new argument?

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