Appellate

Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

The Gibbons Appellate Team has a wealth of experience and a long track record of success for our clients. Unlike many firms that separate their appellate lawyers from their other litigation teams, the Gibbons appellate practitioners are fully integrated with the firm’s litigation and regulatory practices, with experienced appellate counsel involved at various stages in the process, including initial strategic evaluation and motion practice. This integrated practice structure provides the most well-rounded perspective on cases and enables us to provide the best service to clients, while also affording them the flexibility to use a single litigation team for both trial and appellate work where advantageous or add appellate practitioners to the team when preferable. The Gibbons Appellate Team is also often retained to handle appeals in matters that were litigated at the trial level by other firms and to provide moot court reviews and counseling to external trial and appellate attorneys to assist in their case preparation.

Our Appellate Team was put on the national map by our firm’s standard-bearer, the late John J. Gibbons, who had also served as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The team includes a retired Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and taps the experience of other attorneys with extensive appellate knowledge in constitutional law and criminal appeals, including the 70 percent of attorneys in the BCL Group who served as law clerks for federal or state judges.

In recent years, our Appellate Team has successfully handled major matters before the United States Supreme Court, as well as nearly every U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and dozens of State Supreme and intermediate appellate courts. The range of results in the complex and critical matters our clients have recently entrusted to our Appellate Team includes our:

    • Representation of State Legislature in Tenth Amendment challenge to state law legalizing sports wagering, including favorable decision by the U.S. Supreme Court
    • Successful challenge of the constitutionality of New Jersey law precluding same-sex marriage and defeat of the state’s application to New Jersey Supreme Court to stay ruling pending appeal
    • Ninth Circuit decision holding that the U.S. is subject to a trustee’s avoidance claims under Section 544(B) of the Bankruptcy Code
    • Amicus representation before New Jersey Supreme Court advocating successfully that proof of actual reputation damage is required for recovery of compensatory damages
    • Third Circuit’s affirmance of summary judgment dismissing class action against manufacturer in ruling that New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act was inapplicable based on choice of law analysis
    • Successful representation of insurer before Third Circuit in defeating ground-breaking ERISA claims
    • Representation of state in appeal of rejection of bid protest related to award of contract to vendor for services related to operation of lottery
    • Representation of online retailer before Third Circuit and New Jersey Supreme Court’s on certified state law issue, resulting in order partially affirming dismissal of claims against retailer
    • Third Circuit’s affirmance of trial court’s dismissal of claims under New Jersey Business Corporation Act
    • Success before New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of amicus in ruling that actual malice be proven by clear and convincing evidence in defamation claims arising out of matters of public concern
    • Dismissal with prejudice, following multiple rounds of appeals to New York Appellate Division, of multimillion-dollar damage claims against insurer, based on construction site accident
    • Reversal of a summary judgment award based upon the plaintiff’s lack of standing
    • Award of attorneys’ fees and affirmance of municipal development approvals at trial and appellate division level for religious institution
    • Affirmance of municipal development approvals at trial and appellate division level for national retailer
    • Award of attorneys’ fees for frivolous appeal in qui tam action