Best Lawyers in America for Appellate Practice
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State
Mike Jakes concentrates his practice on patent litigation and related counseling. He serves as lead counsel in federal district courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), before arbitration panels, and on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Mike deals mainly with computer, electronics, semiconductor, software, and medical device technologies. Mike has vast experience at the Federal Circuit, having argued more than 45 appeals and prepared and filed brief...
Daniel Blau is a dedicated criminal appeals and post-conviction attorney based in Raleigh, North Carolina. With a deep commitment to constitutional advocacy, Dan has successfully represented clients before North Carolina’s state and federal appellate courts, securing reversals and remands in complex felony cases. As a Board Certified Specialist in Appellate Practice, he brings extensive knowledge and experience to each case, ensuring clients receive comprehensive and strategic represent...
Dale Wainwright is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice and Oil and Gas Law. Dale, who practices law in Austin, Texas, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Dale is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Beth Kushner is a Shareholder in the Litigation and Risk Management Practice Group. She specializes in complex litigation and has successfully handled a broad range of business and commercial disputes, shareholder disputes, construction matters, antitrust disputes, class actions of all sorts, fraud and RICO cases, employment cases and product liability claims. She has a particular expertise in cases that involve high exposure and difficult facts, and her clients appreciate her creative, pragm...
Mr. Garner, a Member of the firm is a trial lawyer specializing in commercial and complex litigation. He has been lead counsel in cases in New Mexico, California, West Virginia, Kansas, Arizona, Indiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, involving complex and class action litigation ranging from asbestos exposure, benzene exposure, mass closings of big box retailers, noise pollution, commercial, banking, bankruptcy and financial litigation. He is admitted to practice before the fede...
Jessica Weisel has more than 20 years of experience handling must-win civil appeals, writs, and trial court motions for businesses and individuals. She has litigated in nearly every federal circuit Court of Appeals and has extensive experience in the California Supreme Court and California Court of Appeal. Jessica’s substantive appellate experience covers a vast range of subjects. She recently obtained reversals of a $19 million wrongful termination judgment in an employment suit, a $27...
Biography The head of the trial practice at Britcher, Leone & Sergio, LLC, located in Glen Rock and Morristown, New Jersey, E. Drew Britcher has spent more than 40 years practicing medical malpractice and personal injury law. Focusing his practice exclusively on litigation, he represents plaintiffs throughout northern and central New Jersey in medical malpractice, product liability and other personal injury matters. He has served as Counsel of Record or Amicus Counsel in nearly 45 reporte...
Johanna Schiavoni is certified as a specialist in appellate law by the State Bar of California and has nearly two decades of appellate experience. She has argued more than 40 cases in the state and federal appellate courts, and has been the principal brief-writer in at least 100. Johanna is a leader of state and local legal associations. She was the 2020 President of the San Diego County Bar Association, which serves nearly 10,000 members of the San Diego legal community. In 2023, Johanna was...
Susan Horst is a specialist in writs of mandamus and prohibition in the California appellate courts. For more than 31 years, Susan served as the writ attorney for the California Court of Appeal for the First District, Division One, in San Francisco. Susan is one of the only practicing attorneys in California to have devoted virtually her entire career to appellate writs. As writ attorney in the First District, Susan evaluated thousands of pre- and post- trial writ petitions in all types of ci...
Matthew Kalmanson is an accomplished appellate attorney and partner at Hart Wagner LLP in Portland, Oregon. He regularly serves as lead appellate counsel in cases before state and federal appellate courts in the Pacific Northwest. As a former federal and state appellate clerk, and an experienced appellate practitioner, Matt knows how to use the appellate process to his clients’ advantage. He is often hired to assist attorneys already in litigation, and brief and argue complex legal and ...
Jane Langdell Robinson offers decades of experience in appeals and litigation, primarily in complex commercial matters. A board-certified civil appellate specialist, Jane represents clients in mandamus proceedings, interlocutory appeals, and appeals of final judgments in Texas and other state appellate courts as well as the Fifth Circuit, other federal circuit courts, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and the United States Supreme Court. Trial lawyers often rely on Jane for legal anal...
W. Scott O'Connell is a trial attorney and litigation strategist in Holland & Knight's Boston and New York City offices. Mr. O'Connell focuses his practice on complex commercial disputes involving significant financial and reputational exposure. He has considerable experience leading class action and aggregate litigation as well as parallel government enforcement and regulatory proceedings, most notably involving health service, financial service, energy, technology, telecommunications or...
Terrence J. Campbell is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice, Commercial Litigation, Litigation - Trusts and Estates and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Terrence J., who practices law in Lawrence, Kansas, has been recognized since 2012. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Terrence J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.