Appellate Practice & Legal Strategies

A deep bench matters

Nelson Mullins has a core team of seasoned appellate advocates who assist clients across the country.  The group has tackled tough problems, including

• Multi-million verdicts
• Wrongful death cases
• Construction defect matters
• Challenges to legislative action
• Automobile rollover cases
• Attorney General investigations and parens patriae actions
• Defamation actions
• Mode of trial issues
• Creditor rights’ issues
• Class certification issues
• Sexual abuse allegations
• Questions concerning arbitrability
• Bad faith matters
• Jurisdictional and procedural questions
• Original jurisdiction matters
• Extraordinary writs
• Appellate Court motions practice

We help solve problems and provide strategic advice for major corporations, local business, and governmental and quasi-governmental entities 

Matters come to the Appellate Practice and Legal Strategies group at all stages of litigation or investigation.  The group often provides guidance and insight side-by-side to trial counsel and coordinates a global strategy, with a focus on issue preservation and eliminating litigation risks.  The group has defended the following industries/entities, among others

• Insurance Companies
• Insurance Guaranty Associations
• National Banks
• National Mortgage Lenders
• Online Lenders
• Mobile Home Lenders
• Regional Banks
• National Rental Companies
• Hospitals
• Medical Device Companies
• National Department Store Chains
• National Grocery Chains
• National Oil Companies
• Manufactured and Mobile Home Companies
• Hotels
• Pharmaceutical Companies
• Automobile Companies
• Airline Companies
• Manufacturers of Automobile Component Parts
• Industrial facilities
• Insurance companies
• Product Manufacturers
• Railroads
• Governors
• Treasurers
• Comptroller General
• Speaker of the House of Representatives
• Senate Pro Tempore
• Municipalities
• Counties
• Quasi-Governmental bodies

The right focus for the forum 

The Firm’s appellate practitioners and legal strategists are strong believers in the value of focused and persuasive advocacy (both written and oral), and are sensitive to the public policy role of certain appellate courts.  The Nelson Mullins appellate group includes several former law clerks to judges and justices of federal and state appellate courts.  Our group understands the internal operating procedures of the courts and has insight into how decisions are reached.  In addition to appeals, the group is often called upon to engage in extraordinary writ practice and other emergency relief actions.

Our lawyers provide timely advice in tough times 

• “On call” – answering the bell after a verdict comes down to marshal the post-trial issues
• Hitting the deadline – focus on perfecting the appeal and preserving issues for appeal
• Issue spotting – taking a deep look at the case to identify the issues the appellate courts may wish to consider, and identifying the issues which might best persuade the appellate judges
• Objections and preservation – working to dot the i’s and cross the t’s at trial
• Crisis management – delivering advice and services when they occur and with a view toward considering potential related litigation and appeals
• Plans and budgets – providing strategic litigation plans and budgets  to help  “right size” the defense of matters
• Case readiness – guiding on measures to help ensure that you are prepared for litigation and the appeal

Following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.

REPRESENTATIVE APPELLATE MATTERS

The following list provides some examples of the appellate work in which our attorneys have successfully represented their clients

• Allegro v. Scully, Op. No. 4997 (S.C. Ct. App. 2012) (court reversing $2 million plus verdict based on evidentiary error).
• American Petroleum Inst. v. South Carolina Dep’t of Revenue, 677 S.E.2d 16 (S.C. 2009) (court striking down legislation as unconstitutional).
• Barcelos v. Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co., No. 13-P-1361 (Mass. Ct. App. 2014) (affirming summary judgment award regarding plaintiffs’ wrongful foreclosure claims).
• Bowman v. State Roofing Co., 616 S.E.2d 699 (S.C. 2005) (reversing Worker’s Compensation Commission ruling and finds premium service company’s insurance cancellation procedures proper under statutory scheme).
• Branham v. Ford Motor Co., (filed August 16, 2010) (S.C. 2010) (ordering new trial, reversing $31 million products liability verdict)
• Cockrell v. Hillerich & Bradsby Co., 611 S.E.2d 505 (S.C. 2005) (setting forth conservative personal jurisdiction analysis in affirming trial court’s decision to dismiss brain damage case).
• Crossmann v. Harleysville Mut. Ins. Co., 717 S.E. 2d 589 (S.C. 2011) (reversing $7.2 million judgment in insurance coverage case, in part, and adopting "time on risk" allocation theory).
• Delta Air Lines, Inc. v. Townsend, 279 Ga. 511 (2005) (dram shop liability of air carrier).
• Doctors Hosp. of Augusta, L.L.C. v. CompTrust AGC Worker’s Compensation Trust Fund, 636 S.E.2d 862 (S.C. 2006) (ruling that South Carolina Worker's Compensation Commission has no jurisdiction over fee disputes relating to out-of-state medical services by out-of-state provider).
• Edge v. State Farm Ins. Co., 623 S.E.2d 387 (S.C. 2005) (adopting the “filed rate” doctrine expressly for the first time in South Carolina).
• Eldeco, Inc. v. Charleston County Sch. Dist., 642 S.E.2d 726 (S.C. 2007) (construing construction contract form used in numerous construction projects).
• Ellis v. C. R. Bard, Inc., 311 F.3d 1272 (11th Cir. 2002) (addressing the learned intermediary defense).