Best Lawyers in Florida, United States for Appellate Practice
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Kendall Coffey is a founding member of the law firm Coffey Burlington, PL, based in Miami, which handles matters in Florida and throughout the United States. Mr. Coffey also currently serves as the Chair of the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for South Florida. Appointed by both of Florida's United States Senators, he presides over the 21-person commission that selects individuals to be considered by the White House to become U.S. federal judges and U.S. Attorney for South Florida. Mr....
Christopher N. Bellows is an appellate attorney who has handled complex civil appeals in the Supreme Court of Florida, all Florida District Courts of Appeal and the federal appellate courts. Mr. Bellows also has significant experience in complex commercial litigation, including areas of contract law, Uniform Commercial Code, business torts, foreclosures, receiverships, replevins, construction disputes, landlord-tenant litigation, product liability, personal injury, first amendment, employment...
Kristen L. Wenger is an attorney with Rivkin Radler LLP in Jacksonville, Florida. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, insurance-related disputes, and class action defense. She represents insurers, businesses, and management in matters involving alleged deceptive business practices, consumer fraud claims, and other high-stakes litigation in state and federal courts. Kristen has worked on class actions and complex commercial litigation across the United States, including matt...
Donna Greenspan Solomon is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice. Donna Greenspan, who practices law in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Donna Greenspan is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Mark Hicks is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation. Mark, who practices law in Miami, Florida, has been recognized since 1989. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Mark is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Daniel Gray Thomas is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice, Criminal Defense: General Practice and Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Daniel Gray, who practices law in Jacksonville, Florida, has been recognized since 2006. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Daniel Gray is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
A former Chief Judge of Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal and member of the court for 22 years, Gerald Cope is the chair of Akerman’s Appellate Practice. He represents clients in appellate litigation at the state and federal levels. Ranked by Chambers USA , peers say “He’s superb and doing great work.” He is a founding member of Akerman Bench, an innovative practice including former appellate and trial court judges providing the perspective of both sides o...
Lissette Gonzalez is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice. Lissette, who practices law in Miami, Florida, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Lissette is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Nancy Copperthwaite litigates complex disputes, including class actions and appeals, and advises employers on employment law issues. She has handled more than 100 appeals and has argued in all five of Florida’s district courts of appeal (DCA) as well as in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Ranked by Best Lawyers in America for appellate work, her diverse experience includes handling appeals of bankruptcy proceedings, class actions, complex commercial matters, ...
Stacy D. Blank practices primarily in the area of appellate and general commercial litigation. She has litigated appeals in the Florida District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court, and the United States Circuit Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits. She has handled appeals and trial court litigation in numerous subject areas including trust and estates, antitrust, employment law, state and federal taxation, environmental law, family law, administrative law, intellectu...
Out of well over 1000 civil trial attorneys in North Florida, Michael Fox Orr was recognized by Attorney-at-Law Magazine as one of the “top 8 civil litigators.” Michael tries civil jury and bench trials primarily in the area of complex commercial and civil litigation with significant damages at issue. Most of his cases involving situations where the company could be bankrupted or an individual stands to lose their net worth. His experience and success as a civil trial lawyer has l...
Stephen focuses on complex litigation and appeals. He has tried cases to verdict in state and federal courts and has argued more than 50 appeals. His practice spans class actions, personal injury, aviation accidents, complex commercial disputes, defamation, professional malpractice, and whistleblower claims. His abilities have been recognized in numerous publications. Benchmark Appellate observed that Stephen “possesses the rare skill set allowing him to excel at both trial and appellat...
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.