Appeals

The attorneys in our Appellate Practice Group provide appropriate guidance with a thorough knowledge of the appeals process in numerous jurisdictions.

That guidance includes consideration of numerous issues, including:

• Whether a discretionary appeal or appeal as of right is available
• Whether an appeal is advisable in light of the particular circumstances of an individual case
• The client’s unique goals and challenges
• Trends in the specific appellate court to which the appeal would be made
• The likelihood of success
• The relative costs and benefits of bringing an appeal
• The applicable standards of review the appeals court applies to the lower court ruling

Once a client decides to appeal, we employ our skillful advocacy, including clear and convincing brief writing and passionate oral advocacy for our clients’ rights before the appellate panel to work to attain a successful outcome.  In the federal and state appeals courts, our appellate lawyers have attained an enviable track record in defending favorable results obtained at the trial level and in reversing decisions where the trial courts have committed legal errors that denied our clients the full benefit of their legal rights.

As staunch representatives of our clients’ interests, we:

• File interlocutory appeals and stay applications
• Identify and assess the strength of appealable issues
• Determine applicable standards of review
• File notices of appeal where appeal is a matter of right from final trial court judgments, certain intermediate appellate court decisions, and state agency rulings
• Appellate court decisions, and state agency rulings
• File actions to confirm or vacate arbitration awards
• Petition for certification in state court when appeal to the highest court is based on a question of public importance, a conflict exists among intermediate appellate courts, or for other special reasons
• Petition for a writ of certiorari where appeal is from federal circuit courts of appeals to the United States Supreme Court
• Prepare appendices of the record below in support of the appeal
• Draft appellate briefs and motions
• Prepare for oral argument and argue the merits before appellate tribunals