APPELLATE LAW

Our “Brain Trust” enhances everything our litigators do, from litigation strategy at the start of the case, through trial and appeal. Five attorneys in this Department are Certified Appellate Law Specialists by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, and four lawyers have been listed as Southern California Super Lawyers. Collectively, the 14 attorneys on this team have well over 100 years of appellate experience – more than enough to match and exceed the resources that opposing counsel can bring to bear on a case.

Unlike the attorneys at appellate boutique firms, our appellate department draws on the experience and perspective of our trial attorneys. Our appellate lawyers also draw on their own extensive past experience as trial lawyers. Attorneys in this department have argued cases at all appellate levels, including before the United States and California Supreme Courts, clerked for federal judges, and taught in law schools.

Our appeals come from two sources. First, we handle appellate issues which arise in-house. Since most of our attorneys are trial attorneys, we generate a significant amount of appellate work from our own cases, frequently in response to appeals and writs filed by our opponents. But we are also practical enough to know when such an effort will be counterproductive or not cost effective. In the end, it is the client's call and we make sure that our clients are fully informed of all the legal ramifications.

Second, many clients send us cases exclusively for the purpose of preparing an appeal or a writ. They may be facing an unfavorable jury verdict and an overworked trial attorney. We take a fresh look at the legal issues on trial, offering a new perspective which may be lacking in a trial litigator, who cannot separate what he has seen and heard from what others will only read in the appellate record.