State and federal appellate experience

The Firm’s litigation attorneys have appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States – in oral argument and/or on brief – in scores of cases, winning several landmark decisions. Our lawyers also have appeared hundreds of times before the U.S. Courts of Appeals (in all circuits) and numerous state appellate courts. Many of our lawyers served as law clerks for federal or state judges. Others have served in the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office; as state Attorneys General, as state Solicitor General, and as Deputy Associate Solicitor for Appellate and Supreme Court Matters in the U.S. Department of Labor. This wealth of experience has enabled our lawyers to hone the skills necessary to reverse a setback in the trial court or to sustain a trial court victory against an aggressive appellate challenge.

We have advocated for our clients in appellate courts on a wide range of issues, including the First Amendment and other constitutional provisions, maritime matters, insurance coverage issues, labor and employment, education law, and a host of other matters.

Our appellate practice takes various forms, depending on the needs of the client. We routinely represent parties on appeal after representing them in the trial court – and we know that a winning appellate case often begins at the trial court level. In other cases, we have been brought into a case only after trial, whether to reverse a loss or preserve a victory. In still other cases, we have filed amicus curiae briefs, so that our clients can be heard on legal issues of importance to them even when they are not formal parties to the case. And, our attorneys have been repeatedly called upon to assist in preparing other attorneys for oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Representative Experience

• Representation of a property and casualty insurance company as appellate counsel in a RICO action before the Georgia Supreme Court; successful petition for writ of certiorari led to settlement.
• Georgia Power Co. v. Monroe County - Achieved appellate reversal in a first-impression case involving a multi-billion dollar electric power plant revaluation.
• AT&T Corp. v. Prop. Tax Servs., Inc. - Secured appellate reversal of a bench trial in a case regarding the fiduciary duty a tax consultant owes its client.
• City of Decatur v. DeKalb County - Defended a state supreme court appeal on the validity of intergovernmental contracts for Homestead Option Sales Tax (HOST) revenue-sharing.
• Georgia v. Ashcroft - Secured approval of state redistricting plans in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court appeal construing the Voting Rights Act.
• State Bar of Ga. v. City of Atlanta - Achieved appellate reversal of a land use denial, allowing a state bar association to develop its new headquarters.
• City of East Point v. Newell Recycling of Atlanta, Inc. - Obtained appellate reversal of all charges in a major zoning enforcement action.
• American Casualty Co. v. FDIC  - Represented the insurer at trial and in the first federal appellate court decision upholding the validity and enforceability of the regulatory exclusion in D&O policy in claims by FDIC arising from collapse of national bank.
• Obtained reinstatement of summary judgment by the Ninth Circuit in an adversarial proceeding on appeal after the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel reversed the bankruptcy court’s opinion in the client’s favor.
• Representation of Marex Titanic, Inc. as appellate counsel in litigation related to competing efforts to salvage artifacts from the R.M.S. Titanic.
• Representation of a coalition of churches as litigation counsel in the successful defense of a constitutional challenge to a Virginia state law exempting church-affiliated child care centers from mandatory licensing.
• Representation of the Virginia Manufacturers Association as amicus counsel in appellate litigation under the federal Clean Air Act.
• Successfully defended the constitutionality of Virginia's division fence law against a "special legislation" challenge in the Supreme Court of Virginia, obtaining reversal of a Circuit Court decision striking down the statute as unconstitutional.