Federal Appeals and Motions Practice in U.S. Circuit Courts
Making or Opposing Requests for Permission to Appeal, Mandamus, Stays, Summary Disposition, and Other Relief
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will explore the procedural and substantive motions that can be filed with a U.S. Circuit Court to initiate an appeal and once the appeal is pending. The panel will discuss how strategic use of motions --or successful opposition to them--can influence the course of the appeal. The program will also offer best practices and strategies for creating compelling motions and responses and avoiding common pitfalls.
Outline
- Petitions to appeal
- Certified appeals under Section 1292(b)
- Class certification appeals under Rule 23(f)
- Procedural requirements
- Mandamus petitions
- Standards for obtaining a writ of mandamus
- Procedural requirements
- Motions practice
- Common substantive motions
- Common procedural motions
- Procedural requirements
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- What are the most important variables to consider in filing and responding to appellate petitions and motions?
- What strategic considerations impact the choice and timing of motions?
- How do circuit differences and unwritten court customs affect the federal appellate motion practice?
- What are the common mistakes made by appellate counsel when preparing and filing petitions and motions?
Faculty
L. Rachel Lerman, Esq.
LDB General Counsel and Vice Chair
The Louis D. Brandeis Center
Ms. Lerman (“Rachel”) is General Counsel and Vice Chair of LDB and a member of its Board of Directors.... | Read More
Ms. Lerman (“Rachel”) is General Counsel and Vice Chair of LDB and a member of its Board of Directors. Before Joining LDB as Senior Counsel in July 2021, she was a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, where she co-chaired the firm’s national appellate practice group. Her practice focused on appellate law and trial strategy in complex civil cases in state and federal courts nationwide. Ms. Lerman is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee of the LA County Bar Association. Before joining Barnes & Thornburg LLP, she was a partner at the firm of Akin Gump LLP. After completing her degrees at Yale (BA) and Berkeley School of Law (JD), she served as law clerk to the late Hon. T. G. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. For over twenty years, she has done pro bono work on behalf of refugees and non-profit organizations, winning recognition from such groups as Public Counsel, the Harvard Immigration Law Clinic, and the ACLU.
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Mary-Christine (M.C.) Sungaila
Shareholder
Buchalter
M.C. Sungaila is the leader of Buchalter’s Appellate practice. Ms. Sungaila is a highly regarded appellate... | Read More
M.C. Sungaila is the leader of Buchalter’s Appellate practice. Ms. Sungaila is a highly regarded appellate attorney who has briefed and argued appeals raising cutting-edge and fundamental business issues for over two decades. Her work has helped shape undeveloped areas of the law in constitutional law, employment, franchisor liability, product liability, class actions, probate, immigration, Holocaust art recovery, and human rights. She crafts creative approaches to clients’ emerging legal issues and provides pretrial consultations in cases where an appeal by either side appears inevitable.
Chambers USA reports that clients describe her as “a phenomenal writer,” “an excellent strategist,” and a “gifted appellate lawyer who consistently delivers bottom line results.” Clients praise her “great practical sense,” “laser” focus on key issues, “excellence in creative thinking,” “deep local knowledge of the California Supreme Court, as well as other appellate venues,” and her ability to “advise on the business side just as well as she does on the legal side.” She has been recognized for over a decade by the Daily Journal as one of California’s 100 Leading Women Lawyers, and as one of the state’s Top Labor & Employment Lawyers.
Anne M. Voigts
Partner
King & Spalding
Ms. Voigts has worked on cases before the United States Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and federal and... | Read More
Ms. Voigts has worked on cases before the United States Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and federal and state appellate and trial courts. A former Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit clerk, she has argued nearly 60 cases in federal and state appellate courts, more than 50 of which were in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A former federal prosecutor with over a decade of public service in the Central and Northern District of California, Ms. Voigts has nearly twenty years of experience handling appeals and critical motions practice and routinely advises trial teams on complex legal issues in a wide range of cases. She has worked, inter alia, on cases involving antitrust law, class actions, contractual disputes, preemption issues, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the False Claims Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, copyright, and constitutional and statutory interpretation. In the class action context, Ms. Voigts has successfully petitioned for appellate review under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f) and regularly consults on critical motions practice on class actions in the trial and district court.
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