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The Law Firms With The Hottest Appellate Practices (2020)

Which law firms and lawyers were recognized this year?

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The legal thread that binds our nation has been stitched into place by appellate lawyers. These attorneys handle challenging, high-stakes problems that can only be resolved in our federal appeals courts or at the Supreme Court, and to thank them for all of their hard work, the National Law Journal puts together an annual “hot list” of the law firms with the best appellate practices.

As usual, the NLJ Appellate Hot List is filled with prominent firms and litigators. This year, these top appellate lawyers were asked about the most valuable lessons they learned at the start of their careers. Here are some of their answers.

Paul Clement, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis:

Be kind. The bar is a small world, and life is long. Today’s adversary is tomorrow’s co-counsel or client, at least if you treat them with respect and courtesy.

Allyson Ho, a partner and co-chair of the appellate and constitutional law practice group at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher:

If you aim for perfection, you’ll hit excellence. Details matter—whoever said “don’t sweat the small stuff” wasn’t an appellate lawyer.

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Shay Dvoretzky, a partner at Jones Day:

The client’s goal may transcend the legal issue in a particular case. So always understand the client’s objective first.

Kannon Shanmugam, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison:

As a young lawyer, you’re going to make mistakes. The key is to learn from those mistakes and never to make the same mistake twice.

Lisa Blatt, a partner at Williams & Connolly and chair of the firm’s Supreme Court and appellate practice:

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Own your own style. Being an effective advocate—as well as someone who enjoys the job long-term—requires sincerity and a thick skin.

Elbert Lin, a partner and appellate practice co-chair at Hunton Andrews Kurth:

The lesson that’s stuck with me the longest is that first impressions are lasting impressions. Be extra cognizant that first time before a judge or interacting with another lawyer.

Without any further ado, these are the 24 law firms with the best appellate practices in 2020 (listed in alphabetical order):

Congratulations to all the hard-working lawyers recognized. Well done!

The 2020 Appellate Hot List [National Law Journal]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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