The firm has long recognized that litigation in appellate courts presents unique challenges and requires skills that differ from those that ensure success at trial. Through the years, litigation has become specialized, not only with respect to substantive legal areas, but also with respect to the important distinction between appellate and trial litigation.

The firm's attorneys have handled numerous cases in:

• Ohio appellate courts including the Ohio Supreme Court
• Indiana appellate courts including the Indiana Supreme Court
• other state courts of appeals
• nearly every federal judicial circuit, with a special emphasis on the Sixth and Seventh Circuits
• U.S. Supreme Court.

The firm's appellate attorneys have litigated a wide range of cases both civil and criminal as well as administrative. Firm attorneys, for example, helped preserve the country's then-largest ever antitrust verdict in the Sixth Circuit, successfully litigated a capital case on behalf of a capital defendant, and helped create a special "settlement privilege" in the Sixth Circuit.

The firm's success is a reflection of the talent and experience of the attorneys in this practice group. A number of Taft attorneys have served as judicial clerks for both state and federal judges. Several of the firm's attorneys have participated as founding members of the Ohio State Bar Association's Appellate Practice Committee and are working now on the task force in charge of Ohio's new appellate specialty certification. One of our attorneys is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America in Appellate Law.

In addition, attorneys from the firm have served on the rules advisory committee for the Sixth Circuit, which is headquartered in Cincinnati. Our appellate practice group focuses both on matters that were handled at the trial level by the firm's attorneys and on matters on which the firm had no trial-level involvement. In the latter situations, the firm's involvement has ranged from briefing and arguing such cases to serving as consultants to other counsel who may not be familiar with practice and procedure in Ohio appellate courts or the Sixth Circuit.

Taft appellate attorneys recognize the need for a fresh perspective in all appellate matters for parties both challenging and defending a lower court result. We recognize that counsel for appellants must be able to winnow a case down to a few important issues for efficient and effective presentation to a court of appeals. On the other side, many hard-fought victories at the trial court level are lost because counsel is content to recycle lower court briefing.

Because the firm recognizes that appellate attorneys must understand all aspects of litigation to be effective, Taft appellate attorneys do not limit themselves to only regular appellate work. Members of the appellate group participate in a wide range of matters including standard trial court litigation, proceedings on special writs, and administrative proceedings.