From securing basic constitutional rights to parsing arcane regulatory and tax issues, appellate work is one of the central components of Sutherland's litigation practice. Since one of our founding partners, Judge Elbert P. Tuttle, helped establish the right to counsel in criminal cases in Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 (1938), our lawyers have been centrally involved in major appellate cases, mostly involving complex business issues.
Appellate cases we have handled span practically the entire spectrum of substantive law. During the last five years, for example, we have represented clients in appeals involving antitrust, telecommunications, land use, tax, energy, franchising and distribution, professional liability, securities law, insurance law, education, employment, class actions and many other areas. During that same period, we have represented clients in appeals before the Supreme Court of the United States, all 13 federal circuit courts of appeals and a number of state appellate courts.
An appellate practice demands a specific set of advocacy skills, including an ability to mold often complex substantive law into arguments accessible to generalist courts. The keys to virtually every appeal are to recognize outcome-determining issues and to present those issues in a manner that maximizes the chances of success. Our track record reflects that our lawyers have the talent and experience essential for successful appellate presentation. A high percentage of our appellate lawyers began their careers as law clerks for federal judges or for justices on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Role of Amicus Curiae
We often submit briefs to appellate courts as amicus curiae, usually on behalf of associations or others with interests in important cases. As the recent clamor from appellate courts reminds litigants, an appropriate amicus brief is not simply a ballot or another brief tendered on behalf of a party rehashing or emphasizing that party's arguments. The useful amicus brief - one likely to be considered by the court - brings to the court's attention the broader context and policy implications of the decision at hand where the parties have not done so for one reason or another. The most effective amicus brief often is the "Brandeis" brief presenting economic and other social science data bearing on the issue before the court.
Georgia Appellate Practice
In addition to our federal appellate practice, Sutherland lawyers appear regularly in Georgia appellate courts and have an intimate familiarity with the procedures in those courts and with the Georgia judiciary. We are often called upon to handle an appeal after judgment has been entered in a trial court for or against a client represented by other counsel. Our lawyers include two past presidents of the State Bar of Georgia. Click here for representative Georgia cases.
© 2008 Sutherland