The Legal 500

Appellate practices are a complex breed and firms have developed different models in order to cope with the sprawling structure of the US courts of appeal. Some of the cleverest variations take advantage of the space the appeal court system leaves for shaping the law in a way that is favorable for clients. Supreme Court practices are a particular niche, often led by an exceptional individual whose main role is to take cases to the highest court. Only a limited number of lawyers are admitted to the Supreme Court bar and therefore able to perform oral arguments in the Supreme Court in Washington DC.

The practices listed here are considered to be the best, measured on depth of practice and on results. Some are best known for their Supreme Court work and others for their work in the state appeal courts.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

PRACTICE: There are a limited number of firms that companies seek out to pursue an imperative Supreme Court decision and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is unequivocally one of those firms. Dubbed a ‘powerhouse appellate practice’, its reputation springs primarily from the aggregate reputations of its appellate lawyers, who command the ‘respect of justices of the Supreme Court and colleagues of the bar’ and yield a respectable 60% success rate in filing certiorari petitions to the Supreme Court. The practice has broad capabilities and is well placed to tackle appeals within securities, patent, antitrust, class action and employment litigation.

In addition to the ‘highly creative and intuitive’ oral advocates, Theodore Olson and Miguel Estrada, who co-chair the appellate group, the team boasts several highly specialized and experienced attorneys among its 31 appellate practitioners, based primarily in the Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles offices. Its deep bench includes a former deputy solicitor general and a former Justice of the California Court of Appeal.

The Riegel v Medtronic case, which concluded in February 2008 with a favorable verdict for the firm’s client Medtronic, is a prime example. This case was one of the most significant cases for the pharmaceutical industry of recent years because it had implications for all companies in relation to their obligations and accountability. The issue at stake in this case was whether an individual who suffers side effects from a medicinal product should be able to sue for injury under the claim that the product was mislabeled. The Supreme Court decided that federal law should pre-empt state law in this instance, and that Medtronic’s adherence to federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules, and approval of its labeling by that organization, should protect Medtronic.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP also secured a victory for the New York State Board of Elections in January 2008, in which the Supreme Court unanimously decided against allegations that the electoral system was unconstitutional.

Other notable cases include a unanimous win was achieved for Rolls-Royce and General Motors, parent companies of Allison Engine, in June 2008 following the Allison Engine v United States Supreme Court hearing. The practice also won a case at the end of the 2007 term on behalf of Bath Iron Works in the Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association v NLRB case, which set a precedent for labor practice cases. In this case, the first circuit appeal court agreed with the defense argument that the defendant in the case had a sound basis their actions regarding a pension plan, based on a contract.

CLIENTS: In addition to the clients already mentioned, notable representations include Philip Morris USA in the Supreme Court. The firm also had a petition granted for a Supreme Court hearing on behalf of Harman Development. Clients represented in the state circuits include UPS and Janus Capital. The group also defended a patent appeal in the federal circuit on behalf of St Jude Medical.

INDIVIDUALS: Washington DC-based appellate practice chair Theodore Olson’s reputation precedes him. The former Solicitor General of the United States, who clients say is ‘truly excellent’, has fought 50 cases in the Supreme Court throughout his career and his success has continued with an impressive year in the Supreme Courts in 2008, with wins on three cases that reached verdict.

Los Angeles-based Theodore Boutrous is commended by clients for being ‘very smart’, ‘quick to grasp issues’, and a ‘fact-gatherer and strategist’.

Mayer Brown

PRACTICE: Mayer Brown prides itself on being the oldest and largest appellate practice in the US, having operated in the Supreme Court for more than a century. The firm carries about 55 appellate specialists plus two additional resident affiliate academics that deepen the bench and add to the renowned scholarly quality of the practice’s appellate work.

Mayer Brown’s Supreme Court and appellate group is strategically committed to shaping the law at state circuit level in a way that serves its clients and percolates up to Supreme Court level. The practice’s ‘master strategists’ were triumphant in the Supreme Court representation of Motorola and Cisco in a securities appeal, which was completed in January 2008. The decision threw out suggestions that the suppliers were liable, which has broad application to investment banks that are under fire in securities investigations. The firm also secured a successful certiorari petitioner in the Philip Morris v Williams Supreme Court hearing in a way that has implications for any punitive damages case. The court set precedent concluding that punitive damages cannot be issued to any person other than the plaintiff involved in the case.

The attorneys tackle environmental litigation, the representation of federal agents and almost everything in between, and are considered by clients to be the ‘best at what they do - high-quality appeals’. The practice brings together attorneys with a ‘committed work ethic’ and across-the-board expertise in securities and antitrust, tax and arbitration, administrative, criminal cases, RICO, employment and environmental litigation.

Mayer Brown’s strength is the ‘collaborative approach’ of its constituent partners. Six of the Supreme Court cases that the firm took on in 2008 were distributed between four of the firm’s lawyers, which demonstrates an egalitarian policy and depth of bench within the practice that contrasts with the ‘star-centric’ status quo in some Supreme Court practices. Clients note that ‘political diversity is part of the firm’s strength’. Underlining its ethic of co-operation, the appellate group transparently publishes its briefs online.

Clients instruct Mayer Brown due to the ‘stellar reputations’ of its oral advocates and the practice’s overall ‘reputation for high-quality work and integrity’. The practice prepares ‘excellent appellate briefs’, with a ‘100% grasp of the legal issues and implications’. Uniquely, the solid appellate bench includes four former deputy solicitor generals. The practice is regarded as an ‘analytical powerhouse’.

Clients praise the practice for being ‘unbelievably responsive and client-oriented’, and for ‘advancing reasonable business interests’.

CLIENTS: Major corporate clients include Motorola, Cisco, Philip Morris USA, The Philippine National Bank, Merrill Lynch, Dow Chemical and Ernst & Young.

INDIVIDUALS: Founding member of the appellate practice, Stephen Shapiro, who is based in Chicago, is ‘incredibly hardworking and at the top of his field’, say clients.

Clients comment that Ken Geller, former Deputy Solicitor General of the US Department of Justice, is ‘especially skilled at Supreme Court-related matters’.

Andrew Schapiro divides time between Chicago and New York, and is ‘an up-and-coming star’ of the appellate practice. Clients describe him as ‘super-smart, with legal issues and quick on his feet’.

Lauren Rosenblum Goldman in New York has an ‘unmatched ability to work well with other lawyers’.

Clients describe Washington DC-based co-chairs Evan Tager, Dan Himmelfarb and Andy Tauber as ‘highly skilled, intelligent, professional and ethical thought leaders. As partners, they are responsive, committed to shared goals, and fair-minded’.

Sidley Austin LLP

PRACTICE: The skill, experience and credibility of the ubiquitous managing partner of Sidley Austin LLP, Carter Phillips undoubtedly contributes to the firm’s status as a key player in the Supreme Court.

The firm as a whole, and particularly Phillips, enjoys a well-established relationship with the Supreme Court, dating back 20 years to the foundation of the practice. Phillips maintains ‘an excellent rapport with all of the Justices’ that contributes to the confidence clients have that he ‘can take up virtually any certiorari worthy case and present a winning argument to the Court’.

Ironically, one potential challenge for the firm is that ‘everybody thinks of Carter’ when they think of Sidley Austin LLP, but former acting attorney general Peter Keisler returned to the firm in 2008 to co-ordinate its appellate practice. Rob Hochman also made an appearance in the Supreme Court in the 2008 term.

Perhaps one of the practice’s most significant recent Supreme Court wins was a victory on behalf of federal employee Myrna Gomez-Perez in an age discrimination case. Other Supreme Court successes were achieved on behalf of Hall Street Associates and CSX Transportation. The practice also had success in the state appeal courts, most notably vacating a $9.1m judgement to the benefit of client Aon, and overturning a $44m ruling in a patent infringement case for Cardinal IG.

In 2008, the practice picked up Fox Television Stations as a client in the Supreme Court. Broadcasting regulator, the FCC, first claimed that the fleeting utterance of expletives by musicians and presenters including Cher and Nicole Richie on the Billboard Music Awards breached broadcaster guidelines in the state circuit appeal court in 2002, but was defeated. The FCC appealed against the decision several times, and took the case to the Supreme Court in July 2008.

The practice also handled the highly complicated representation of Dariush Elahi, an Iranian who brought a wrongful death claim against the Iranian government. At the center of the Supreme Court appeal is whether a breach of contract for weapons sold to the Iranian Ministry of Defense entitles damages.

At the end of 2008, Phillips represented AT&T in a complex appeal concerning a pension plan. The issue at stake was whether women who took leave before the Pregnancy Discrimination Act came into action should receive full retirement benefits, which would require a retroactive reading of the plans in question.

CLIENTS: Aside from Supreme Court representations of clients such as Fox Television Stations, the practice recently handled appeals in the federal and state circuits for clients such as Aon, Major League Baseball Players Association, Qualcomm and the US Chamber of Commerce.

INDIVIDUALS: Based in the Washington DC office, Supreme Court veteran Carter Phillips, who served as a law clerk in the Supreme Court and as Assistant to the US Solicitor General before he started a career at Sidley Austin LLP, is an ‘exceptional appellate advocate’. Clients describe Phillips as ‘eminently qualified’, a view that is corroborated by his personal record of arguing 63 Supreme Court cases throughout
his career.

Chicago-based Constantine Trela has been a litigation partner at Sidley Austin LLP for more than 20 years and is described by clients as ‘solid, capable’. Trela was recently involved in an insurance appeal for a subsidiary of Aon that was successfully dismissed in which more than $9m dollars was at stake.

Former Supreme Court law clerk Rob Hochman is also based in Chicago. He argued one case orally in the Supreme Court in 2008. Clients recommend Hochman as a ‘brilliant lawyer for tough cases’.

WilmerHale

PRACTICE: The ‘world-class’ appellate practice at WilmerHale is renowned for its depth of bench. WilmerHale is one of the few firms that lays claim to having a former Solicitor General of the United States in its bench in the form of Seth Waxman, who is acclaimed for being ‘as good as anybody gets’.

The appellate practice consists of 55 appellate practitioners distributed in the core Washington DC office, Boston and New York. Potentially WilmerHale’s most significant Supreme Court victory in 2008 was its representation of six Guantanamo detainees in the first ever ‘habeas corpus’ hearing. The practice successfully gained a right to trial for the six detainees in the Supreme Court and five out of six were released following the case. The profundity of the success of these trials was emphasized by the judge’s recommendation that ‘under no circumstances should the government appeal’ against the verdict.

Danielle Spinelli and Mark Fleming were recently elected as partners. In testament to WilmerHale’s philosophy to give younger lawyers courtroom experience, Spinelli successfully represented Walter Allen Rothgery in a Sixth Amendment case in the Supreme Court. The pro bono case won an eight-to-one decision concluding that Rothgery had unlawfully been denied the right to counsel when he was convicted mistakenly of being a felon in possession of a handgun.

Other highlights for the practice included briefing and arguing the March 2009 Supreme Court Wyeth v Levine preemption case, in which the practice represented Wyeth. The dispute turned on the adequacy of side-effects warnings relating to an intravenous delivery method for the drug Phenergan.

Patent cases are the firm’s staple in the appellate arena. In keeping with this, the practice prevailed in the federal circuit over one of the most widely recognized patent cases in 2008 on behalf of its client Broadcom. Another recent patent victory was the In Re Bilski appeal in the federal circuit, which was resolved by an en banc hearing.

CLIENTS: Four of the practice’s attorneys obtained four favorable verdicts in one week on the federal circuit in 2008 on behalf of Tivo, Monsanto, RSA Security and Eastman Kodak. The practice also argued appeals in the state circuits for broadcaster ABC, Broadcom and McAfee software.

INDIVIDUALS: Washington DC-based Seth Waxman, a former US state attorney general and current chair of the firm’s appellate group, is referred to by clients as ‘the best among notable peers’.

Boston-based William Lee, co-managing partner of the firm, is described by clients as ‘one of the finest litigators’, a ‘wonderful advocate’ and a ‘very good brief writer’.

Latham & Watkins LLP

PRACTICE: Latham & Watkins LLP’s national appellate and constitutional practice is rooted in Washington DC, but 50 appellate practitioners are spread across other offices in San Francisco, San Diego, New York and Los Angeles. The group added to its credentials when Daniel Meron, former general counsel of the US Department of Health, joined in 2008.

The distinguishing factor of this appellate practice is its high rate of success in filing certiorari petitions successfully to the Supreme Court. The practice has been granted nine out of the past 13 certiorari petitions that it filed.

Latham & Watkins LLP possesses several leading lights and a strong team leader, former US Deputy Solicitor General Maureen Mahoney. Despite Mahoney’s prominence in the Supreme Court, the practice has a collegial approach to appeals. The firm is lauded for its ‘outstanding and extraordinarily creative lawyers’. The practice is deemed to be a growing force: ‘ Latham & Watkins LLP has Mahoney’, but ‘more lawyers are stepping into the breach’.

Latham & Watkins LLP is currently in the process of handling the briefs and argument for two environmental cases in the Supreme Court. The firm filed certiorari petitions for both cases, including a petition on behalf of the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) environmental case regarding EPA Clean Water Act regulation.

In spring 2008, Latham & Watkins LLP attorney Scott Ballenger also won a patent infringement appeal for Quanta Computers.

CLIENTS: The firm handled a comprehensive selection of appeals in the state appellate courts recently for individuals such as Joseph Nacchio and corporate clients across numerous industries. Significant representations include Fannie Mae, Quanta Computers, together with Capital Group Companies, Molten Corporation, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and Golden Gate Yacht Club.

INDIVIDUALS: Having served as Deputy US Solicitor General, Maureen Mahoney is ‘rightly known and admired’. She ‘elicits confidence in judges, with a terrific demeanor’ and ‘non-flowery attractive presentation’. Mahoney has argued 20 Supreme Court and has an extraordinary 90% success rate, having lost only two out of 19 cases that have concluded.

Richard Bress, former Assistant to the Solicitor General, has argued six Supreme Court cases in his career, and argued a difficult pro bono death penalty case in the Supreme Court in 2008. Former Supreme Court law clerk, Scott Ballenger, writes on a majority of certiorari petitions.

All three recommended individuals are based in Washington DC.

Morrison & Foerster LLP

PRACTICE: Morrison & Foerster LLP’s 45-strong appellate practice makes for a formidable opponent in any commercial arbitration or patent appeal, in large part due to the group’s ability to collaborate with the firm’s robust patent litigation department. Significant changes to the practice in 2008 include two new members, former California Court of Appeal judge Miriam Vogel and former federal circuit court of appeals law clerk Kristin Yohannan. Brian Matsui, a former clerk for Justice Kennedy, was elected as partner.

In 2008, the practice has handled a variety of challenging federal preemption, arbitration, patent law, tax, antitrust, financial services, RICO, and class action appeals. The practice tends to involve appellate specialists in cases at trial level with the aim of achieving a ‘seamless connection between the different courts’ in preparation for potential appeals. Clients have confidence that ‘from lining up amicus briefs to scheduling mock arguments, the firm knows the most effective methods’.

The firm won three favorable Supreme Court verdicts in federal preemption, arbitration and taxation appeals. Beth Brinkmann won all three cases, two of them unanimously. Perhaps the most significant case was the MeadWestvaco case regarding state taxation on the $1.5bn sale of LexisNexis. In this case, it was decided that a State should not tax a non-domiciled business for dealings outside the State, a point of law that is important for multi-state corporations that invest in separate companies. The practice also represented toy maker Mattel in the Supreme Court in a federal preemption case in 2008, with the Supreme Court concluding that the Federal Arbitration Act should have the final say on arbitration awards.

Ned Washburn also represented Pacific Lumber in the California Supreme Court in a case that involved breach of contract.

CLIENTS: As well as the clients mentioned above, the practice filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court on behalf of Gen-Probe. The group filed federal and state courts briefs for clients such as Ski Lifts, the Neurotechnology Industry Organization and Foley & Lardner.

INDIVIDUALS: Former Assistant Solicitor General, Beth Brinkmann is ‘outstanding on the briefs and in oral argument’, and as an attorney with the firm has a ‘bright future’.

Clients commend of-counsel Seth Galanter, who formerly worked for the Department of Justice, for his ‘outstanding’ briefs that are ‘technically good’ and ‘tailored to the views of members of the Court’.

Former Solicitor General Drew Days, who used to head the appellate practice, continues to work as of-counsel on appeals.

All three attorneys are based in Washington DC.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP

PRACTICE: O’Melveny & Myers LLP is one of the few firms considered to have particular affinity with Supreme Court judges, not least through its chair former acting Solicitor General, Walter Dellinger. The firm had a successful year in 2008, with several US Supreme Court and state Supreme Court victories, taking on a variety of appeals concerning product liability, insurance, punitive damages, financial services and the Second Amendment.

One striking Supreme Court victory for the practice in 2008 was the reduction of punitive damages to 10% of the original $2.5bn that Exxon Shipping was liable to pay victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, a case led by Jon Hacker. The firm also reversed a previous appeal on behalf of Morgan Stanley that will likely protect the sanctity of long-term energy contracts the bank held with energy companies.

The practice’s attorneys are praised for being ‘creative but credible’ and ‘truly committed’. The practice’s ‘values-driven’ approach was evident in its pro bono challenge to the Second Amendment gun law on behalf of the District of Columbia, concerning the creation of stricter gun laws in the district. This was the first challenge to the Amendment in 75 years.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP instigated two appellate law clinics within Harvard Law School and UCLA. Pam Harris and Jon Hacker were chosen for their educational experience to be the directors of the Harvard clinic.

CLIENTS: Recent key clients for appeals are Bank of America, ExxonMobil Corporation, Merck & Co, Morgan Stanley, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the New York Stock Exchange and the US Chamber of Commerce.

INDIVIDUALS: Chair of the appellate practice, Walter Dellinger, is ‘brilliant’, ‘well respected’ and ‘clearly a giant’ of the legal profession. He served as acting Solicitor General of the United States and as assistant attorney general before he joined O’Melveny & Myers LLP. His performance in appeals meets with great satisfaction as clients say he is a ‘sui generis’, ‘a true intellect, interested and interesting’ with an ‘ability to think on his feet and to make critical strategic judgements while doing so’.

Since returning to the firm at the end of 2007, Sri Srinivasan seems ready to follow in Dellinger’s footsteps and impresses clients who consider him to be a ‘somewhat younger version of Walter Dellinger’. Clients particularly note that he plays ball ‘above the rim with respect to very complex legal issues’.

Also recommended are Charlie Lifland, who clients say is ‘smart beyond belief’, and ‘intellectually sharp’ Jon Hacker.

Akin Gump Strauss
Hauer & Feld LLP

PRACTICE: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has offices in key appellate hotspots Washington DC, New York and San Francisco, with other offices in Chicago, Philadelphia and elsewhere. The Supreme Court and appellate practice includes several former federal and state appellate court judges, most notably its co-chair, Thomas Goldstein.

The practice has a close involvement with the Supreme Court, regularly submitting petitions and merits that result in a steadily high turnover of advocacy. The firm fought three cases in the Supreme Court in the 2008-09 term, one successful and the other two pending decisions. Goldstein recently led a long-standing federal habeas appeal that was finally granted on behalf of Carlos Jimenez in the Supreme Court. The practice also triumphed in the Supreme Court hearing of the Virginia v Moore appeal, in which it concluded that the manner in which cocaine was seized from David Lee Moore was unconstitutional.

The practice has a penchant for appeals that concern the intersection of constitutional, land rights and government matters with individuals, groups and industry. Most outstanding is its representation of the people of the Bikini Islands in the federal circuit regarding their claim to compensation following the nuclear bombing of the islands as part of a nuclear testing experiment in the 1950s.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP also plays the quieter but equally extensive role of acting co-counsel to more than ten percent of Supreme Court cases. For example, it occupied a significant oral and brief-writing role in the City of Pleasant Grove case concerning the creation of a park monument.

The practice has academic affiliations with Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, Harvard Law Clinic and constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe.

CLIENTS: Other recent clients include the Biotechnology Industry Organization and Clintwood Elkhorn Mining.

INDIVIDUALS: Washington DC-based chair of the appellate practice Thomas Goldstein has argued 20 Supreme Court cases in his career. In addition to Supreme Court advocacy, Goldstein administers the SCOTUSblog, which provides synopses of Supreme Court motions.

Jones Day

PRACTICE: Jones Day, like Mayer Brown, deliberately eschews the personality cult structure that some appellate practices are accused of displaying.

Teamwork is a notable strength the practice has in this area, and clients praise it for being ‘adept at marshalling resources throughout its offices’. The appellate practice is historically rooted in Washington DC but has focused on expanding its appeal work into New York and the Northeast. It is sizeable in comparison to most appellate practices and two-thirds of the 54 attorneys are former appellate clerks and one-third former Supreme Court law clerks. Strategically, the group is committed to integrating appellate lawyers into trial cases.

The group’s appellate attorneys are equally adept at handling individual representations as well as corporate cases, and comfortable with cases involving the application of state funds. For example, the practice successfully represented former president of Hawaiian Isles Enterprises, Michael Boulware, in a tax evasion case in the Supreme Court. The practice also prevailed in a preemption case on behalf of the US Chamber of Commerce.

CLIENTS: Other representations in 2008 included Direct TV in a patent case and the University of Notre Dame in a case involving the use of government funding.

INDIVIDUALS: Chair of the appellate practice, Glen Nager, has argued 12 cases in Supreme Court and is based in the Washington DC office. He is a former chair of the board of directors in the Office of Compliance.

Washington DC-based Michael Carvin worked on the representation of the Chamber of Commerce. Clients consider his work to be ‘most effective’, and praise his ‘unsurpassed work ethic’ and ‘unique ability to translate complexity into straightforward concepts’, adding that he ‘delivers all this with passion and logic’.

Reed Smith LLP

PRACTICE: Reed Smith LLP has longstanding relations with the pharmaceutical sector and, to an extent, this carries over into the types of cases it handles at appeal. For example, the practice recently represented the City of Hope Medical Center in a licensing appeal put forth by Genentech in the California Supreme Court, which affirmed a $300m judgement in favor of its client.

However, the appellate group has a broader compass, having successfully represented a broad selection of organizations in sectors such as education and utilities.

Reed Smith LLP’s appellate group has practiced for over 25 years and, despite the practice being relatively modest in size compared to those of some competitors, its ‘appellate specialists’ handle cases from its San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles offices.

This ‘very responsive’ practice combines a high volume of work with delivering ‘the highest quality legal work well before deadline’.

The appellate team is also steadily expanding, having gained two new partners in 2008 in the form of Justice Margaret Grignon and Wendy Albers, and opened a bankruptcy appellate group.

CLIENTS: Recent representations in the state circuits include the Regents of California, North America Insurance, The Scranton Times and Iowa Utilities Board.

INDIVIDUALS: Clients describe current appellate chair Raymond Cardozo, who is based in the San Francisco office, as a ‘gifted writer’, who ‘thinks deeply and accurately about the law’.

Also recommended is Paul Fogel in San Francisco, who is ‘very ethical’ with a ‘tremendous amount of credibility’.

Robbins, Russell, Englert,
Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber

PRACTICE: Robbins, Russell, Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber has a healthy combined record of accomplishment in the Supreme Court, having won 35 out of a total 42 cases argued by six of its lawyers over the firm’s 8-year history.

Successful recent Supreme Court representations included Mark Stancil’s argument for the individual Ahmad Edwards in front of the Supreme Court in June 2008 to determine if the criteria for representing oneself at trial should be more stringent. The court decided that higher competency was required for Edwards to represent himself at trial. In another matter, three of the practice’s attorneys are assisting the Office of the Attorney General of Alaska with a brief regarding access to evidence.

CLIENTS: The firm’s attorneys also acted amicus curiae, filing briefs to the Supreme Court for organizations such as the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the Financial Institutions Energy, the Chamber of Commerce (in support of Wyeth in Wyeth v Levine) and
the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

INDIVIDUALS: Both based in Washington DC, partners Larry Robbins and Roy Englert have experience in the Office of the Solicitor General and clerking at the Supreme Court. Englert is admired for being ‘the sleeper of the Supreme Court bar; really, really smart and really, really good.’ He is referred to as ‘a very good Supreme Court lawyer’ with ‘a very good ability to make people understand complex arguments’.

Covington & Burling LLP

PRACTICE: Covington & Burling LLP’s ‘fabulous’ Supreme Court and appellate practice includes 26 partners, 16 of them former Supreme Court law clerks. A majority of the attorneys practice a mixture of appellate and trial work. Heading the appellate practice is Robert Long, a former assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States, who has had a fair 14 Supreme Court arguments in his career.

The group’s approach in this practice area is to team appellate specialists with experts in the subject area relevant to the case. The already sizeable appellate practice grew with the addition of two new litigators in 2008, including former assistant to the US Solicitor General, Jonathan Marcus, and David Goodwin, who has argued 50 appeals in state and federal appeal courts.

The group’s ‘terrific’ attorneys are collectively praised by clients for going ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ on appeal cases, and being ‘responsive, creative, thorough and practical’.

In 2008, Covington & Burling LLP had three Supreme Court wins and acted as co-counsel in several other cases including a Fourth Amendment case. In October 2008, the firm argued the Pearson v Callaghan case in the Supreme Court, which looked specifically at the Fourth Amendment concerning searching and seizures. Associate Jack Metzler presented the oral argument for the case.

CLIENTS: Covington & Burling LLP handled a high-profile antitrust appeal for the National Football League (NFL) in the seventh circuit state court of appeal, which resulted in the unprecedented decision that the NFL and its member franchises could be licensed collectively.

Covington & Burling LLP represented a number of subsidiary companies in Wyeth v Levine and Federal Communications Commission v Fox Television Stations.

INDIVIDUALS: Based in Washington DC, ERISA specialist and appellate practitioner John Vine is commended by clients for his ‘excellent brief-writing’ and his ability to ‘pull together statutory interpretation and weave together creative arguments’. Also located in the Washington DC office, Edward Bruce is described by his clients as ‘an outstanding appellate counsel’.

Greenberg Traurig LLP

PRACTICE: Greenberg Traurig LLP’s decentralized appellate practice covers a large proportion of the US, with appellate practitioners residing in 15 locations around the country. The practice’s bench incorporates former judges Israel Rubin and Arthur England.

The firm handles a high volume of appeals in the appellate circuit and state appeal courts. In 2008, the firm dealt with a number of interesting appeals in state Supreme Courts including the representation of Sears Roebuck regarding allegations of defective machinery design, a case that highlighted and assuaged a conflict between Illinois and Michigan law. The practice also persuaded the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a ruling on the liability of insurers in payment over hurricanes, which are notoriously frequent in the region.

In terms of other work, the practice has one case pending in the US Supreme Court and represents tobacco-company Lorillard in a RICO
class action case regarding the health
implications of branding cigarettes ‘Lights’. Other interesting recent cases are the representation of financial corporation BDO Seidman
in the first case to address caps on appeal
bonds, the vacation of an arbitration award and the rare grant of en banc review for The Morrison Agency regarding an involuntary bankruptcy case.

CLIENTS: The practice balances representations of corporations such as Sears Roebuck, BDO Seidman and Lorillard TobaccoCompany with clients such as the estate of Dr Atkins, the Daily News, Shell franchisees, Maricopa County Treasurer David Schweikert and former Arizona Corporation Commissioner James Irvin.

INDIVIDUALS: Former chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court Arthur England heads the practice from his office in Miami. The appellate group brings together specialists in wide areas, such as Chicago-based Francis Citera for products liability, Phoenix-based E Jeffrey Walsh for construction litigation, and Washington DC-based Jerry Stouck for government litigation. Litigator James George has recently joined the Fort Lauderdale office.

Farr & Taranto

PRACTICE: Together partners H Bartow Farr and Richard Taranto make up ‘little but wonderful’ Washington DC-based Farr & Taranto. Due to its small size, the practice is unable to take on a lot of large cases, but nonetheless its lawyers command the respect of contemporaries for being ‘great’, ‘really, really good’ and ‘really capable’.

The practice pursues appeals in all areas, most notably constitutional, telecommunications, patent and antitrust law. Taranto is noted for his expertise in intellectual property appeals.

The practice was co-counsel to one Supreme Court hearing as a petitioner in November 2008.

CLIENTS: The firm represents a range of clients on IP, constitutional and antitrust matters.

INDIVIDUALS: H Bartow Farr is a former Solicitor General’s assistant and Supreme Court law clerk. Richard Taranto is also a former Solicitor General assistant and admitted to the US Supreme Court bar. Taranto has a ‘good relationship’ with the Supreme Court and both partners are ‘really smart, capable and experienced’.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

PRACTICE: Sullivan & Cromwell LLP’s appellate and Supreme Court practice group consists of 32 partners in four offices - New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Palo Alto, including former Supreme Court clerks. The firm has argued in front of the US Supreme Court twice in 2008, including an antitrust case relating to the dot-com boom on behalf of Goldman Sachs in the Supreme Court.

In keeping with the practice as a whole, a majority of cases for the appellate practice
is done on behalf of clients in the financial,
technological or pharmaceutical industries.
Many of the appeals that the practice handles
are in the second circuit serving New York, Vermont and Connecticut, including an appeal on behalf of the Banco Central de la Republica Argentina.

CLIENTS: The firm recently represented the following banking trade associations in the Supreme Court: the American Bankers Association, The Clearing House Association, and the Financial Services Roundtable.

INDIVIDUALS: Palo Alto-based Brendan Cullen co-ordinates the appellate practice. Also
recommended is New York-based Richard Urowsky who carries out appellate work relating to antitrust and securities cases, and whose clients include Goldman Sachs.