Practice Areas & Industries: Crowe & Dunlevy, A Professional Corporation

Practice/Industry Group Overview

The practice of appellate law requires a perspective entirely different from trial litigation. The trial process involves the initial persuasion of the judge and jury, based on the full array of available evidence and legal arguments. The appeals process, to the contrary, depends on convincing a new panel of judges of the correctness of the trial court's handling of the limited number of legal issues selected for appellate review. As such, it requires the judgment and discipline to focus on those issues which are legally determinative, whether or not they were the most visible issues at trial.

Services Available

The appellate process begins before the appeal is filed, generally immediately after a verdict or trial court decision. Crowe & Dunlevy appellate lawyers work with trial counsel to review the case with a fresh perspective, and to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of post-trial motions in the trial court, or the proper strategy in defending such motions.

During the appeal process itself, there are more procedural complexities and variations than might be expected, particularly in Oklahoma's appellate courts. Decisions must be made, for example, as to whether to ask the Supreme Court to retain or subsequently grant jurisdiction, as to when to seek rehearing of a decision, and as to when and how to seek additional time or page length for briefing. By reason of our volume of appellate cases -- both appeals and original actions in the appellate courts -- and our combined years of practice, Crowe & Dunlevy attorneys have the experience and knowledge to avoid procedural traps, the judgment to make the proper choices as to the various procedural options which are presented in every appeal, and the ability to reach tactical conclusions consistent with the customs and practices of the Court that may not be explicitly embodied in the rules.