Appellate Law

Experience in handling appellate reviews and practicing before state and federal appellate courts is an important dimension of our overall practice. Many civil and criminal cases that originate in other practice groups must be prepared and evaluated with their potential to be appealed to a higher court in mind, even if they are not ultimately appealed. Generally, appellate courts are review courts rather than trial courts, and their jurisdiction is to review, revise and correct, if necessary, appealable orders or judgments rendered in lower courts. The rules governing procedure and practice before appellate courts are quite different from those governing courts of original jurisdiction, or trial courts. Attorneys in many of our practice groups have significant experience in handling appellate reviews, which puts them in position to prepare cases and counsel clients on the potential for review of their cases. While appeals in some cases are handled by attorneys in the practice groups in which the cases originate, more often they are handled by attorneys in our Appellate Group because of the specialized training and experience required.

Through our Appellate Group, we handle 50-75 civil and criminal appeals a year in state and federal courts. The group is comprised of attorneys who have clerked for various appellate judges. In addition to traditional appeals, we handle original actions and prepare amicus briefs before the Indiana Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. Over the years, we have prepared amicus briefs for the following organizations, among others: The Products Liability Advisory Council; The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers; The American Automobile Manufacturers Association; The Defense Research Institute; The American Insurance Association; The Insurance Institute of Indiana; The Indiana Manufacturers Association; and The Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana.

APPELLATE SERVICES:

• Amicus Briefs
• Civil Appeals
• Criminal Appeals
• Original Actions

Primary Contact:

Julia Blackwell Gelinas
Biography

317-237-3845
jgelinas@locke.com

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