Areas of Practice

Appellate

In most cases, even the most hard-earned trial court judgment merely signifies the end of one legal process and the beginning of another, very different one. Once a judgment is appealed, the effective appellate advocate must be able to distill the often immense trial record into a concise and cogent brief that will convince the appellate court of the presence or absence of prejudicial error. Gleaves Swearingen’s appellate practice attorneys, with their considerable experience and expertise in the appellate arena, excel at this task.

Gleaves Swearingen’s appellate practice is equally as broad as our full-service civil litigation practice. Our appellate attorneys are capable of handling appeals in the areas of employment law, products liability law, construction law, real estate law, land use law, constitutional law, intellectual property law, commercial law, environmental law, or just about any other area of civil practice. Our appellate lawyers often perform the role of ensuring that the favorable results obtained by Gleaves Swearingen’s trial attorneys withstand any subsequent attack on appeal. However, they are also available to handle appeals on cases in which another lawyer or law firm served as trial counsel.

Gleaves Swearingen’s appellate practice attorneys offer the full array of services that might be appropriate post-trial, including:

  • Preparing post-trial motions, such as motions for directed verdicts, motions for judgments notwithstanding the verdict, motions for reconsideration, and motions for new trials;
  • Providing candid and well-reasoned assessments of the prospects for prevailing on appeal;
  • Identifying any appropriate procedural issues to be raised before the appellate court, and filing the proper motions relating to such issues;
  • Drafting the substantive appellate briefs on behalf of the client;
  • Presenting oral argument before the appellate tribunal; and
  • Negotiating post-trial settlements (where appropriate).

In addition, our appellate practice attorneys are skilled in pursuing or defending the types of matters that may be raised in an appellate tribunal before any final judgment is entered by the trial court, such as petitions for writs and allowable interlocutory appeals.

For more information about how our attorneys can help you with any post-trial matter, please contact one of the attorneys below:

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