Appeals and Appellate Counseling

When the most prominent personal injury lawyers in Orange County secured the largest Federal Tort Claims Act award against the U.S. government in history, they came to us to help defend the appeal. And we won, preserving a $54 million verdict for the injured Plaintiffs.

Our appellate lawyers have clerked for the Ninth Circuit. Our appellate lawyers have litigated dozens of appeals. Our appellate lawyers teach appellate advocacy. Our appellate lawyers run a Ninth Circuit appellate clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. Our appellate lawyers regularly litigate patent appeals in the Federal Circuit. At One LLP we are appellate lawyers. Many lawyers do appeals. But they are not appellate lawyers. Knowing the difference is critical. The selection of appellate counsel is an important decision, one that is often misunderstood because all too many people assume that an appellate lawyer is the same as a trial lawyer. Not so.

At its core, effective appellate advocates must know their audience of judges and know the appellate courts. We do, because this is what we do. Appellate advocates must be creative with the law. We are, because this is what we do.

• We have successfully handled dozens of appeals in the state and federal appellate courts.
• We have prevailed in high-profile copyright infringement appeals ranging from modern internet personal jurisdiction questions to architecture copyright infringement questions to copyright ownership questions.
• As law professors, Peter Afrasiabi and John Tehranian teach appellate litigation, and they both have served as members of the California Court of Appeal Fourth Appellate District’s appellate attorney panel.
• Peter Afrasiabi, Chris Arledge and John Tehranian also regularly present on appellate issues to bar associations and judicial conferences, where they have spoken on a panel with Ninth Circuit Judge Carlos Bea and where they have spoken on appellate law issues to local bar groups.
• Peter Afrasiabi and Chris Arledge have clerked for federal appellate court judges, thereby giving One LLP an unusual degree of familiarity with appellate strategy and procedure.
• John Tehranian has had his scholarly work cited in briefs before the United States Supreme Court.
• Peter Afrasiabi is a Ninth Circuit volunteer pro bono coordinator where he places Ninth Circuit-screened pro bono appeals with appellate counsel.

Appellate Counseling

An appeal is not simply the next step in a case, and shrewd clients and trial lawyers recognize the need for adept appellate litigators to counsel them on appeal. For this reason, an effective appellate lawyer must do more than just litigate appeals. Appellate lawyers must also work with trial lawyers. At One LLP, we regularly work with trial counsel – whether as shadow appellate counsel or not – providing appellate counseling services without requiring any damage to the existing trial lawyer-client relationship.

We look forward to serving your appellate needs – whether for patent appellate counsel in the Federal Circuit or for appellate counsel in the Ninth Circuit or California appellate courts – and working with your trial counsel in a collaborative fashion to best position you for success on appeal.

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