Best Lawyers in America for Appellate Practice
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State
Edward T. Kole chairs the Business and Commercial Litigation team at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. Mr. Kole handles complex corporate and commercial disputes on behalf of public and private companies in New Jersey and across the nation. Mr. Kole has represented large and medium sized businesses and corporations at every level of state and federal courts, involving a myriad of legal issues including complex contract disputes, restrictive covenant and trade secret litigation, securities ...
Rudy is a partner in the firm’s Litigation and Intellectual Property Practice Groups. In his litigation practice, Rudy handles matters at both trial and appellate levels. At the trial level, he has first-chaired jury trials in both federal and state courts. Rudy has also briefed and presented oral arguments in both state and federal appellate courts.
Jonathan Amarilio is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation. Jonathan, who practices law in Chicago, Illinois, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jonathan is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
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...
Sam J. Vitale is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation. Sam J., who practices law in Novi, Michigan, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Sam J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
W. Brent Shellhorse is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation. W. Brent, who practices law in Fort Worth, Texas, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which W. Brent is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Caren Beth Nichol is a member of Evans Petree’s Property Tax Group where she litigates commercial property tax appeals before state boards of equalization and state courts. From 2017-2018 she served as President of Evans Petree PC, a full-service law firm founded in 1907 that has grown to include 49 attorneys. Prior to being elected President, Caren served as the firm’s Secretary, as a Director for over 15 years, and as Chair of the Marketing Committee and Litigation Practice Grou...
David J. Minkin has been a resident of Hawaii since 1975. Licensed in Hawaii in 1984, he spent ten years in the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City & County of Honolulu before joining the law firm of McCorriston Miho Miller Mukai in 1995, where he has specialized in civil litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts, administrative hearings, arbitrations and mediations representing individuals, corporations and municipalities. David has been recognized annuall...
Aaron has successfully represented a wide range of clients—states, countries, Fortune 100 companies, law firms, and individuals—in cases of great significance, spanning numerous areas of law, including administrative, constitutional, contract, criminal, environmental, and tax. Specifically, he has represented clients in complex litigation at all levels of the state and federal courts, including in 13 cases on the merits at the U.S. Supreme Court, twice presenting oral argument. He...
Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Kevin P. Parker is the head of the Issues and Appeals Section of The Lanier Law Firm. His pre-trial work insures that client cases will stand the test of an appeal. Mr. Parker is an accomplished lawyer, having personally handled more than 20 cases at the appeals court level. He was a key member of the firm’s Pinnacle bellwether trial team that won a $1 billion combined jury verdict and a $502 million jury...
Ed R. Haden is a partner with Balch & Bingham LLP, chairs the firm's Appellate Practice Group, and is the author of the Alabama Appellate Practice (LexisNexis) . Ed has twenty years of legal experience in the government and private sectors, has worked on over 100 appeals, and his practice focuses on appellate litigation in the Supreme Court of Alabama and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Ed specializes in knowing the written and unwritten rules and practices necessary t...
Mary H. “Molly” Tolbert is a litigator, with a focus on antitrust, securities, constitutional, and appellate matters. She has appeared on behalf of clients before numerous state and federal courts, as well as in administrative and regulatory proceedings. She has significant experience in drafting and arguing critical motions and appellate briefs, with recent successful oral arguments before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits, as well as the Southern Distr...
Russell Post is a board-certified appellate specialist. For the last 18 years, following his clerkship with the Hon. Jerry Smith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, he has dedicated his practice to civil appeals. He has acted as lead counsel in approximately 100 appeals and has participated in countless others, preparing briefs and presenting oral arguments to the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas appellate courts, and the Fifth Circuit. Russell represents both plaintiff...
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.