O’Melveny’s Appellate Practice group is one of the nation's preeminent appellate practices. Our appellate lawyers have collectively argued more than 70 cases in the US Supreme Court, and have written briefs in hundreds more, both at the merits and certiorari stages. The practice is headed by
Walter Dellinger, former Acting Solicitor General of the United States and former head of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. Members of the practice include several veterans of the Office of the Solicitor General, other former DOJ lawyers, and numerous former Supreme Court and federal appellate clerks.
The experience of our appellate practitioners goes well beyond the US Supreme Court. Because many of our clients’ most significant matters involve fact-intensive problems or state-law legal issues that will never reach the Supreme Court, our appellate skills are frequently employed to reverse losses – or preserve victories – in federal and state courts throughout the nation, on a wide range of subject matters. We are also regularly involved in trial proceedings, briefing and arguing legal motions and ensuring that worthy legal issues are identified and preserved for appeal. Clients even call upon us before cases are filed, for help anticipating and solving potential legal problems, including through regulatory or legislative action.
Whatever the venue, issue, or subject matter, the unrivaled skill and experience of our appellate lawyers ensures that we can provide the forceful advocacy, nuanced advice, or creative solutions to meet our clients’ needs.
Key Facts
- O’Melveny’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group includes approximately 15 lawyers who specialize in briefing and arguing appeals and motions. It is headed by a former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, and includes several former lawyers in the Office of the Solicitor General, and other former DOJ lawyers. Almost all members of the practice clerked for federal judges, and several clerked for Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Several have substantial academic experience.
- Three members of the practice are the founding co-directors of the Harvard Law School Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Clinic. The directors of the Clinic instruct students on topics in Supreme Court and appellate advocacy, and supervise teams of students and other O’Melveny lawyers in the drafting and filing of petitions for writs of certiorari, merits briefs, and amicus briefs, primarily in pro bono matters.
- Members of O’Melveny’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group have published extensively in law reviews, bar journals, magazines, and newspaper op-ed pages. They have appeared as commentators on television news programs and have given speeches and panel presentations before various legal organizations, including the Federalist Society, the American Constitution Society, the American Bar Association, the US Chamber of Commerce’s Litigation Center, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
- O’Melveny’s appellate lawyers have litigated appeals and motions on the broadest possible range of legal subject matters. Individual members of the practice have developed experience and expertise in distinct areas, but generally the practice does not specialize in subject matters – its members specialize in understanding difficult legal problems in any subject area and explaining them to the non-specialist judges who typically will resolve them.
Practice Strengths
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Antitrust and Competition
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Business Trial and Litigation Group
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Class Actions, Mass Torts, and Aggregated Litigation
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ERISA Litigation
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Health Care and Life Sciences
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Insurance and Reinsurance
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Intellectual Property and Technology
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International Arbitration
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Labor and Employment
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Securities Ennforcement