Overview
Winning on appeal demands clear thinking and a tailored strategy. It also requires special skills. Today’s appellate courts expect — and reward — crisp writing and focused arguments.
The appellate team at Robinson Bradshaw has the experience that appellate work demands. We put our background and knowledge to work in the U.S. Supreme Court, the federal appellate courts and state appellate courts in North and South Carolina. Our team includes:
- Two U.S. Supreme Court clerks,
- A recent solicitor general of North Carolina,
- Dozens of former clerks for federal appellate judges,
- Newly minted clerks from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court,
- Two state bar-certified specialists in appellate practice,
- Multiple members and the former chair of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Appellate Rules Committee, and
- A former chair of the American Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Committee.
Robinson Bradshaw’s appellate team often serves as new or additional counsel on appeal. We help parties who have suffered an adverse result in an earlier court, as well as appellees who seek us out for our skills and experience. We also craft amicus briefs for clients with an interest in pending appeals, including appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Although most clients retain Robinson Bradshaw for the full life cycle of an appeal, our appellate engagements have a flexible scope. We often advise clients on whether an order is appealable and, if so, whether an appeal makes strategic sense. We also serve as pre-appeal advisers during trials and other proceedings that can generate later appeals. In these roles, our attorneys can offer a fresh and dispassionate perspective — a perspective that reflects our experience arguing before and clerking with appellate judges and justices.
Experience
U.S. Supreme Court
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Argued before the Supreme Court and oversaw the briefing in a dispute over the constitutional limits on the taxation of trusts. The Court’s opinion announced favorable new reasoning.
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Successfully represented the plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court in Moore v. Harper, a case about the constitutional standards for congressional redistricting.
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Defeated a petition for certiorari in a trade association’s freedom-of-association challenge to a state statute. The Court denied the petition after receiving our response.
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Filed an amicus brief for a civil-rights organization on whether federal courts can decide claims of partisan gerrymandering.
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Represented law professors as amici who supported the constitutionality of a federal statute that allows terror victims to execute on money judgments against Iran.
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Filed an amicus brief for a policy organization on how the Fourth Amendment applies to military-style raids by police.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
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Successfully defended a state official against a constitutional challenge to a state statute that bans the corporate practice of law.
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Secured the reversal of a judgment for almost $100 million in an insurance-contract dispute.
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Defended a judgment that rejected antitrust and constitutional claims against a medical regulatory agency.
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Represented a retail chain in an appeal from threshold decisions in a putative nationwide class action over employment practices.
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Defended against individual shareholders’ lawsuits that challenged a merger between two national banks.
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Secured the affirmance of a summary judgment in favor of a public hospital system in a lawsuit that alleged retaliation in violation of the First Amendment.
North Carolina Supreme Court
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Represented the governor of North Carolina in expedited appeals in a dispute over ballot language for proposed state-constitutional amendments.
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Won appellate reversal of a decision that reassigned the ownership of a multibillion-dollar utility. The state supreme court’s decision held that a recent statute violated the North Carolina Constitution.
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Won an appeal for a technology company on the issue of personal jurisdiction in a business dispute.
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Represented a former North Carolina governor and a former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court as friends of the court in a dispute over legislation that changed the composition of the state elections board.
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Won an appeal in a scope-of-practice dispute between two state regulatory agencies.
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Secured the affirmance of a summary judgment in favor of an apartment complex and waste-management company that challenged a city’s differential rates for landfill access.
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Represented a statewide association of homebuilders as amici curiae in a dispute over municipalities’ authority to impose impact fees on builders and developers.
North Carolina Court of Appeals
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Won an appellate reversal of a billion-dollar judgment in a class action over health-insurance coverage.
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Secured the affirmance of a judgment in favor of a national general-contracting firm in a dispute involving novel questions of municipal law.
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As new counsel on appeal in a departing-employee dispute, won partial reversal of a $10 million judgment that included a record award of attorney fees.
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Defended a judgment that reversed an $11 million tax assessment against business owners.
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Won the affirmance of a summary judgment in favor of hotel developers whose former employer sued them for alleged violations of non-solicitation provisions in their employment agreements.
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On behalf of state legislators, filed an amicus brief that supported a challenge to the validity of a state constitutional amendment.
South Carolina Appellate Courts
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Successfully represented a charter school in a challenge to the South Carolina Department of Revenue’s attempt to charge property taxes on the school’s leased campus.
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Represented a national bank in an appeal that upheld the dismissal of shareholder claims against the bank and its directors.
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Represented a regional retailer in a landmark shareholder dissent and appraisal lawsuit under the South Carolina Business Corporations Act.
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Represented a business group as an amicus curiae before the South Carolina Supreme Court in a landmark case on the effect of employee handbooks.
Note: This list includes cases handled by members of the firm before they joined Robinson Bradshaw.
Accolades
Honors & Recognitions
- Best Law Firms, Charlotte Tier 1 for appellate practice, 2012-26; Raleigh Tier 1 for appellate practice, 2024-26
