Appellate & Briefing Counsel

High-stakes appeals demand clarity, judgment, and discipline. I partner with trial counsel to shape and execute appellate strategy, elevate written advocacy, and preserve hard-won outcomes, or correct course when the trial record requires a reset.

I focus on research and writing. Trial counsel retains control of the record, appendix, and filing logistics. This keeps the work lean, efficient, and outcome-driven.

What I Do

  • Identify and refine appealable issues

  • Develop narrative and doctrinal strategy

  • Research complex legal questions

  • Draft principal and reply briefs

  • Provide issue memos early in the appeal

  • Prepare argument outlines and moot sessions

Why Bring in Briefing Counsel

Appeals are not do-overs. They are battles over law, framing, and precision. The best trial lawyers know when a fresh, appellate-driven lens creates an advantage. I am brought in when:

  • The record is dense or messy

  • The legal issues are novel or high-impact

  • The matter carries reputational, financial, or precedential stakes

  • Trial counsel prefers not to divert resources from ongoing litigation

How It Works

  • Co-counsel engagement or ghostwriting

  • Defined scope centered on research and writing

  • Collaborative strategy with trial team

  • Flat fee or hybrid fee structures available

  • Select matters only

Representative Experience

  • Ghostwrote principal brief in a high-profile First Department appeal concerning statutory interpretation and constitutional protections.

  • Advised on appellate posture and issue preservation in complex business disputes.

  • Drafted numerous successful appellate briefs in Appellate Division, Court of Appeals, 2d Circuit.

  • Experience as senior clerk to a judge on the New York Court of Appeals.

  • Professor in Legal Writing at Fordham Law.

  • (Additional examples available upon request, subject to confidentiality.)

Contact

To discuss an appeal or briefing engagement, please get in touch via the form.