Appellate Practice

Our appellate lawyers work directly with clients and trial counsel to guide them through each phase of the appellate process. We help to identify and develop potential appellate issues during the trial phase; prepare and respond to post-verdict motions; evaluate prospects for appeal, and present clients’ appellate claims through vigorous briefing and oral argument.

McElroy Deutsch provides appellate representation on behalf of parties, and amici curiae, and will assist other counsel in preparing for oral argument and presenting post-argument motions. Our appellate lawyers also have substantial experience in filing petitions for certification both from intermediate state appellate courts and the federal courts of appeal, including many petitions for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.

Our law firm's appellate capabilities are extensive, both in terms of expertise and breadth of coverage, having argued numerous appeals in:

• New Jersey Supreme Court
• Connecticut Supreme Court
• Each of the 11 United States Circuit Court of Appeals
• The Second and Third Circuit Courts of Appeals
• The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Intermediate Appellate State Courts
• The highest courts in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Colorado and Wyoming

The Firm’s range of expertise enables clients to engage our appellate attorneys for appeals covering:

The high degree of appellate expertise our law firm offers is exemplified by:

• Former Connecticut Supreme Court Justice C. Ian McLachlan, who also served more than nine years on Connecticut’s appellate courts
• Former Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Peter T. Zarella, who served in that capacity for nearly two decades
• Former Seton Hall Law School Dean Ronald J. Riccio, who is recognized in the area of appellate practice in the Best Lawyers in America
• No fewer than twenty additional attorneys have served as law clerks in the Supreme Court of Connecticut or New Jersey, or in the appellate court of one of those states

Representative Cases

• Represented the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association before the United States Supreme Court in their successful efforts to legalize sports betting at Monmouth Park Racetrack.
• Represented the Essex County Vocational-Technical Schools Board of Education (“ECVS”) before the New Jersey Appellate Division on appeals arising from the ECVS’s attempt to acquire, by condemnation, property in Newark, New Jersey to build a school for the students of Essex County.
• Represented a construction manager in case brought by the State of Connecticut seeking more than $15 million for the repair of the building envelope at the University of Connecticut School of Law library building. 
• Represented the State of Connecticut and its former governor, John Rowland, in a major class action filed in federal court by the state’s public employee unions, who alleged that Rowland violated their constitutional rights when, during a budget crisis, he laid off over 2,500 employees, allegedly because of anti-union animus.
• Represented defendants in a shareholder action against a corporation, board of directors, CEO, and general counsel, alleging that the defendants had engaged in self-dealing and breached fiduciary duties by entering into an agreement and $5.2 billion plan of merger.
• Represented a law firm against claims of negligent misrepresentation and professional malpractice in a suit filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The Firm successfully obtained the Third Circuit’s affirmance of the District Court's dismissal of an approximately $10 million legal malpractice claim.