More than 30 years ago, Lou Long had a vision for an innovative and dynamic Appellate Practice Group. While other regional defense firms copied his model, few could match his record. Thomas, Thomas & Hafer LLP went straight to the source and commissioned him to lead the firm into that uncharted territory.
The Appellate Practice Group at Thomas, Thomas & Hafer LLP consists of skilled and respected legal surgeons who provide interventional, diagnostic, and therapeutic services for all trial and administrative practices in the firm and on a referral basis for matters originating outside the firm.
When operating in the interventional mode, the Appellate Practice Group provides assistance to trial counsel in identifying, developing, presenting, and preserving issues that have potential for appeal. This includes those that would form the basis to prosecute on appeal following an adverse outcome, as well as those that would threaten to upset a hard fought victory in the tribunal below. The Appellate Practice Group provides interventional services as early as the initial pleadings, such as preparing or responding to procedural devices like preliminary objections or motions to dismiss that frame novel or complex legal issues, and throughout the course of proceedings, such as preparing or opposing key motions in limine, Daubert or Frye motions, motions for protective orders, and summary judgment motions.
When operating in the diagnostic mode, the Appellate Practice Group conducts a post mortem of a trial or other dispositive proceeding in order to identify and evaluate potential grounds for appeal. It can then assist in the preparation, briefing, and argument of post-trial motions, motions for reconsideration, and other tasks necessary to the appellate effort, win, lose, or draw. The Appellate Practice Group can provide candid and objective assessments of cases that can lead to successful compromises during the appellate process.
When operating in the therapeutic mode, the Appellate Practice group will take on specific tasks assigned by the trial practice or it will assume command of an entire case, whatever is required to guide the client and the matter into a safe harbor with the best outcome possible. This service can include interlocutory appeals, stays and supersedeas, written and oral advocacy, and post-decisional remedies.
The efficient and effective representation provided by the Appellate Practice Group saved a client more than $50,000 in litigation costs on the way to a noteworthy victory on the merits. The case involved a dispute between two municipalities regarding the location of a border line, and the protracted litigation created uncertainty for the affected residents and it halted a substantial real estate development. The Appellate Practice Group developed a novel approach to preparing, submitting, and serving a voluminous record that contained numerous oversized and color-coded maps and drawings. Then, it successfully briefed and argued the case, allowing the residents to resume life as normal and removing an impediment to the future development.
Other examples of the innovative work and remarkable achievements of the Appellate Practice Group can be provided upon request.
Although it is centered in the Pittsburgh office, the Appellate Practice Group provides services throughout Pennsylvania and in the other jurisdictions comprising the extensive Thomas, Thomas & Hafer LLP footprint.
