Appellate Counsel for Business and Individuals
I have been representing clients in federal and state appellate courts across the country for many years. Most of my work is referred to me by trial attorneys and by judges. Plaintiffs’ lawyers employ me to defend a large judgment in which they have a personal stake. Courts have appointed me to represent individuals sentenced to death. Corporations and law firms have hired me when litigation threatened their existence. Parents hire me when the litigation stakes are nothing less than the custody of their children.
Appellate Services
Trial Court Briefs
Trial lawyers often hire me to write briefs in support of or in opposition to motions seeking dismissal or summary judgment in federal and state courts.
Appellate Litigation
From merger to murder to mass torts and manufacturers’ liability, I have been representing clients in federal and state appellate courts since the 1970s.
Mediation Assistance
I have a track record of helping trial attorneys to seek out and achieve smart and valuable settlements of cases through mediation and independent negotiation while cases are pending in trial and appellate courts.
Trial Consultation
I help trial lawyers identify and refine theories of liability or defense, anticipate and solve evidentiary problems before they arise, and spot and build attacks against their adversaries’ weaknesses.
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An ability to write clearly has become the most important prerequisite for an American appellate lawyer.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist
Supreme Court Judge, US Supreme Court -
An ability to write clearly has become the most important prerequisite for an American appellate lawyer.
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From My Blog
A recent dissent by Judge Kelly in an Eighth Circuit civil rights case highlights an interesting Constitutional fact. Prison inmates (and individuals remanded to mental health institutions) are the only…
Continue Reading Recent Opinions: An Interesting 8th Circuit DissentQuoting judicial opinions can authenticate and bolster arguments in a brief. The problem is that direct quotes can get cumbersome. The opinion you are quoting may have quoted from another…
Continue Reading Brief-Writing: Cleaning up the Citation of Multi-Layered QuotesAppellants try to get trial court judgments reversed. The basic job of appellate judges is to decide, case-by-case, whether a trial judge made an error significant enough to require that…
Continue Reading Recent Opinions: 8th Circuit finds plain error