How We Fight Your Federal Criminal Appeal
- Scrutinizing the record: We examine the full record, motions, objections, rulings, testimony, jury instructions, and sentencing proceedings, to identify legal errors, evidentiary issues, prosecutorial misconduct, ineffective assistance claims, and failures of proof.
- Challenging the sentence: A federal appeal may also address sentencing error. We analyze Guidelines calculations, factual findings, role adjustments, loss determinations, and procedural rulings to determine whether a sentence should be vacated or remanded for resentencing.
- The opening brief: The opening brief frames the appeal. We develop a focused argument grounded in the record, the governing standard of review, and the errors most likely to have affected the result.
How We Fight Your Federal Civil Appeal
- Staying the judgment: In appropriate cases, immediate appellate work includes seeking a stay to prevent collection efforts, enforcement of an injunction, or other irreparable consequences while the appeal proceeds.
- Challenging summary judgment: Many civil cases are resolved without a trial. We challenge summary judgment where the record reveals disputed material facts, an incorrect application of the legal standard, or an improper weighing of evidence that should have been left to a factfinder.
- Correcting statutory interpretation: Technology cases frequently require courts to apply older statutes to new systems and conduct. We litigate statutory-interpretation questions involving computer law, privacy, online platforms, and related areas where a district court’s ruling may have consequences beyond a single dispute.
The Power of Oral Argument
Most appeals are decided on the written briefs. In cases selected for argument, counsel must be ready to address the panel’s questions, the record, and the implications of the rule the court is being asked to adopt. Oral argument is an opportunity to clarify the case’s central issues and respond directly to the concerns that may determine the decision.
We argued before the D.C. Circuit in United States v. Sterlingov, presenting issues concerning the reliability of blockchain-forensics evidence in a criminal prosecution. Here’s a link to the argument:
An appeal demands precision, judgment, and a command of both the record and the law. When a trial or dispositive ruling has gone wrong, we assess the available appellate path and build the strongest record-based challenge.
Reach us online or at (888) 721-7680 to request your confidential consultation about your federal appeal.
