Effective appellate litigation requires sophisticated legal analysis, skillful writing, oral advocacy, and an understanding of civil and criminal trial practice. Zuckerman Spaeder LLP has assembled a team of appellate litigators with comprehensive experience and skills honed in federal and state courts throughout the country, including the highest courts of several states, the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
We brief and argue appellate cases in areas such as federal and state constitutional law, criminal law, federal administrative practice (including food and drug, housing, agriculture, automobile safety, nuclear power, and environmental law), Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act, antitrust, and voting rights. The firm has also represented a Native American tribe on a broad range of appellate matters. When appropriate, we solicit supporting briefs from federal and state governments, as well as from influential private individuals and organizations.
Our appellate lawyers have extensive civil and criminal trial backgrounds. Many have spent years trying and overseeing litigation in the public sector, at the trial and appellate levels, for the Justice Department, in the Civil and Criminal Divisions, on the Justice Department's Tobacco Litigation team, for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, for the District of Columbia Public Defender Service, and others. In addition, one member of the appellate practice spent more than a decade arguing civil cases for a public interest law firm. Zuckerman Spaeder attorneys also have experience on the judicial side of appellate advocacy, having served as law clerks on state and federal appellate courts across the country as well as in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Experience
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Wrote an amicus brief in support of two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court involving challenges to the voluntary efforts of school districts to achieve and maintain diversity in the schools within their districts.
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Participated in nearly 50 cases involving housing and landlord-tenant disputes, family law, and public benefits as consultants or pro bono counsel for the Legal Aid Society’s Appellate Project.
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Filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Congressman Henry A. Waxman regarding preemption of state product liability claims brought in connection with defective medical devices.
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Represented a former prosecutor sued by a former CIA agent-defendant whose conviction was overturned after he served more than 20 years in prison.
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Filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the current FDA standards regulating the use of experimental drugs that have not been approved, a position that was upheld in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
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Represented a defendant in a high-profile terrorism case in an appeal related to the enforcement of his plea agreement.
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Successfully defended before the Fourth Circuit the dismissal of a legal malpractice case involving an American Lawyer 100 law firm.
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