Services

Appellate

Morgan Lewis’s appellate team handles high-stakes, complex, and cutting-edge issues for our clients. We have briefed, argued, and won many cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, every US Circuit Court of Appeals, and numerous state appellate courts. We also maintain an active amicus curiae practice, filing briefs on behalf of market leaders, industry groups, and members of Congress in federal and state courts across the United States.

Our full-service practice offers sophisticated appellate-level strategy combined with elite written and oral advocacy beginning with a dispute’s earliest stages of litigation through appeal. Our advice is enhanced by our close collaboration with Morgan Lewis colleagues—including trial lawyers and subject matter experts—across practices and offices.

The Legal 500 US recommends our team as “excellent,” noting our “strong reputation” at the US Supreme Court. Additionally, individual lawyers on our team have been recognized by both The Legal 500 US and Chambers USA as top appellate advocates nationwide and in specific jurisdictions.

Select Matters Handled by Our Lawyers

US Supreme Court: successfully represented the family of an Oregon student whose parents sought reimbursement from local public schools for monthly private school tuition
US Supreme Court: successfully represented a French manufacturing company in a high-profile, closely watched intellectual property dispute
US Supreme Court: represented ecommerce clients as amici curiae in two cases regarding the first-sale doctrine under the Copyright Act
US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit: successfully defended an injunction prohibiting derivative lawsuits, which was entered as part of a $5 billion bankruptcy settlement
US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit: successfully represented a local school district in a complex case under the Establishment Clause, ultimately persuading the court that individuals who have not been directly exposed to the challenged governmental conduct lacked standing
US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit: successfully represented multiple energy clients in several appeals arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit: successfully argued on behalf of an online travel service in two cases that arbitration agreements in online terms and conditions must be enforced even when the company may make changes to terms and conditions from time to time
US Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit: successfully represented a major US railroad by persuading the court to split with the Fifth and Seventh circuits to hold that railroad stock transfers to employees is not “money remuneration” and therefore not taxable “compensation” under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act
US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit: obtained a path-marking victory in an appeal for an online marketplace by persuading the court that a website is not a “place of public accommodation” under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act
US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit: persuaded the court in a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act case to reverse a district court’s allocation of 100% of the financial liability for the government cleanup of a site to a government contractor
US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit: persuaded the court on behalf of a major VoIP provider that arbitration agreements must be enforced even when they provide an option for both parties to litigate claims that the party with greater bargaining power is most likely to bring
US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit: persuaded the court in an appeal for a prominent online payment service that a customer’s voluntary provision of his phone number to a business constitutes “prior express consent” to calls at that number under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Court of Appeal, California: successfully represented a major utility in multiple appeals