Appellate Litigation

With experienced practitioners in each of our offices, our appellate team has worked on cases before every level of federal and state appellate courts. Our work covers a broad range of areas, including media and communications law, intellectual property law, constitutional issues, commercial disputes, antitrust, criminal defense, class action defense, land use and environmental law, and employment and labor law.

We focus on the client throughout the appeal process, offering guidance before and during trial, developing an appeal strategy, drafting petitions for review and merits briefs, and preparing for and handling oral arguments. Clients frequently hire us to draft amicus curiae briefs to ensure their voices are heard in cases in which they are not a party. We take pride in working with our clients to create clear, compelling briefs that have an impact on the court deciding the case.

Davis Wright Tremaine has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in four of the Court’s last five terms. We have unparalleled experience in the area of free speech, having represented clients or filed amicus curiae briefs on behalf of media and advertising industry clients in significant First Amendment cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal appellate courts for many years. We have achieved tremendous results in the federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts, successfully representing our clients in cases heard by the supreme courts of California, Oregon and Washington and the New York Court of Appeals. We also regularly appear before the intermediate appellate courts in these and other states, with an impressive record of success.

A number of our leading appellate lawyers are consistently ranked by Chambers on a national, state and area-of-law basis. The co-chair of our appellate practice also serves as the co-director of Stanford Law School's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. Many members of our appellate team have served as judicial clerks at the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts and serve on leading bench/bar committees. This behind-the-scenes experience provides invaluable insight to crafting cogent legal arguments that cut to the core of what will likely interest judges or justices. We understand the courts in which we appear, and this enables us to craft successful petitions for review and compelling merits briefs.