When a jury renders a verdict, that doesn’t necessarily mean the case is over. Appeals can be made to higher courts seeking to discard or reverse a jury’s decision, very often by a defendant facing payment of a large monetary award.

It is important to protect against such appeals, not only to preserve jury verdicts after the fact but also to ensure during trials that opposing parties do not develop grounds for reversal. On the opposite hand, it is critical to synthesize arguments that could win new trials for plaintiffs who may lose initial verdicts.

Kline & Specter, P.C., with some 30 attorneys, has extensive experience in the appellate process, with many of its lawyers having won critical motions and decisions before appellate courts in various states and at the federal level. These victories have both preserved plaintiff verdicts and reversed rare courtroom losses.

For instance, in early 2007 Shanin Specter and Andy Youman convinced a Pennsylvania Superior Court panel for the second time to affirm a $20 million award by a Philadelphia jury to a former University of Pennsylvania student who suffered brain damage after hospital staff was slow to respond to his clogged airway. (See the Gallagher case.)

Specter has handled appeals in the Pennsylvania appellate courts, including the Supreme Court, as well as the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Third and Ninth Circuits. Tom Kline also has extensive experience in the appellate courts, having served as a law clerk to Hon. Thomas Pomeroy of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and having handled many appeals and argued before all of the Pennsylvania appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

In another Kline & Specter case, one in which legal motions and appeals spanning seven years, the firm won a new trial for an injured Pittsburgh heating and plumbing worker. James T. Drum had lost his first trial but the case was appealed to the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts. Jonathan Cohen of Kline & Specter retried the case in 2003 to a $7.9 million verdict. (See Drum.)

In 2007, Kline & Specter added an Appellate Practice to deal specifically with appellate issues. The new Kline & Specter appellate department is headed by Charles L. Becker, an experienced appellate attorney who has handled state and federal appeals cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina.

Becker not only deals with appellate issues but also works with the firm’s attorneys on procedural matters in ongoing cases in order to create the best record for cases in which future appeals may be warranted.

A graduate of Yale Law School, Becker is admitted to practice before the state courts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina and before the following federal courts: the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the District of New Jersey and the Eastern District of North Carolina; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth and Seventh Circuits; U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit; and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kline & Specter has a team of attorneys who are well-versed with the appellate process. They are highly capable of defending against an appeal or pursuing reversal of a decision or verdict in a number of practice areas, including medical malpractice, product liability, premises liability, civil rights, automobile accidents, workplace injuries and pharmaceutical litigation. Click here to contact an appeals attorney.