Appellate

Appellate decisions are the lifeblood of the law.  Far more than decisions on individual cases, the published opinions of our appellate courts establish precedents for the cases that follow.  Appellate practice thus presents the skilled advocate with a unique opportunity to shape the law.  At Alston & Bird, we are uniquely positioned to seize that opportunity for our clients.

EXPERIENCE

With more than 65 lawyers who served as law clerks for trial court and appellate judges, on both the state and federal bench, we have developed a keen insight into how trial courts render their decisions and how those decisions are analyzed on appeal. 

We routinely litigate appeals in state and federal courts nationwide, in cases covering a vast array of subject areas – including contracts, torts, securities, employment, antitrust, constitutional law and everything in between.  Our lawyers frequently file amicus curiae briefs on behalf of clients to protect their interests and assist appellate courts in making correct determinations in complex fields of law.  In addition, we regularly provide strategic advice to our clients on potential appellate issues, even before a case reaches the appellate stage. 

The following examples illustrate but a few highlights of our commitment to excellence in the appellate arena:

• Defeat of constitutional challenge to punitive damages cap:  In a landmark decision upholding the constitutionality of the North Carolina punitive damages cap, the North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s reduction of two $11.5 million punitive damage awards to the statutory cap of $250,000 each
• Reversal of massive punitive damages award:  In a major victory for our client, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed one of the largest punitive damages verdicts in Georgia history ($135 million); in doing so, the court held that a former employee could not state a tort claim against his former employer when all of the employee’s claims arose directly from his employment contract
• Precedent-setting victory for protection of secured creditors:  In 2000, one of our clients realized that a string of trial court losses in otherwise minor cases was severely limiting its ability to enforce its security interests statewide, so the client hired Alston & Bird to change the law.  We appealed one such ruling and the Georgia Court of Appeals held in favor of our client, making new law in Georgia respecting a secured creditor’s ability to enforce its rights against third-party auctioneers.  The case is now cited in a leading treatise on commercial law.
• Authorship of the Georgia Appellate Practice Handbook:  In Georgia, Alston & Bird literally wrote the book on appellate procedure.  Since 1985, we have written and edited the Georgia Appellate Practice Handbook – the official appellate text of the Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education and the only appellate treatise officially sanctioned by the Georgia appellate courts.

WHY ALSTON & BIRD?

At Alston & Bird, an appeal is never just the “next phase” of litigation.  We know that appellate advocacy is a discrete discipline, requiring a unique set of skills.  Cases that may have been developed over years of litigation and in trials lasting for days or weeks must be distilled to a 15-minute argument and a 30-page brief.  Success requires melding a comprehensive understanding of the law with impeccable brief writing and outstanding oral advocacy to produce persuasive reasoning at the highest legal level.  These skills are honed with concentrated focus at Alston & Bird, and our success rate is testament to the quality of our work.