Appellate
Notable Representations, Key Contacts
Weil is recognized as one of the top 25 firms nationwide for appellate litigation.
Legal 500 2020
Experienced and highly credentialed team
Our seasoned appellate lawyers have successfully prosecuted and defended precedent-setting appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, all 13 federal circuit courts, intermediate appellate and supreme courts of numerous states, and high courts of foreign countries.
Our team includes many former clerks to federal appellate judges and U.S. Supreme Court justices, constitutional scholars, a former Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and a former Assistant Solicitor General for the State of New York.
Broad range of substantive appellate experience
Weil’s appellate experience includes securities, copyright and trademark, patent, tax, professional malpractice, bankruptcy, complex business torts, antitrust, civil rights, and constitutional law, among other areas.
Multi-disciplinary appellate advocacy
We are effective in any appellate situation, whether it be obtaining mandamus relief on behalf of corporate defendants facing unwieldy discovery demands, challenging the applicability or constitutionality of unfairly applied statutory schemes, enforcing arbitration rights, defending nationwide class actions, or overturning large jury verdicts in product liability cases.
Cutting-edge issues
We regularly litigate questions of first impression and novel legal theories, interpreting complex statutes and regulations in uncharted areas of the law, as well as cutting-edge scientific and technological issues.
Well-respected patent appeals practice
Led by partner Edward Reines in the Silicon Valley office, Weil is regularly called upon to handle its clients’ most important patent litigation appeals before the Federal Circuit.Selected Representations
Antitrust – C&S Wholesale Grocers
Securities – Willis
Weil has represented legacy Willis (pre-dating its 2016 “merger of equals” with Towers Watson) in connection with approximately 15 securities class and individual actions arising out of the heavily publicized, $8 billion Ponzi scheme orchestrated by R. Allen Stanford and his Houston-based Stanford Financial Group. The complaints in these actions, originally filed in various state and federal courts across the country and centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas by the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation, generally allege that Willis and other defendants aided Stanford’s fraud.
In August 2017, following motion practice, limited discovery, and appellate proceedings before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, a Texas federal judge approved a settlement by Willis that favorably resolved the litigation. In 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the settlement.
Antitrust – Farmers Insurance
Trade Secrets - The Dow Chemical Company
Securities – Sanofi
Weil achieved a decisive appellate win for Sanofi, its subsidiary Genzyme Corp., and certain executives in one of the most impactful securities cases in recent memory. In March 2016, the Second Circuit affirmed in its entirety the dismissal by the S.D.N.Y. of a securities fraud class action and a related case for securities fraud arising out of statements regarding the results of Phase 3 clinical trials for a multiple sclerosis drug and its prospects for FDA approval. Notably, the opinion is the first by the Second Circuit to address the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent, seminal Omnicare decision, which articulated the standard for securities fraud liability for allegedly misleading statements of opinion. John Neuwirth, co-head of Weil’s Securities Litigation practice, was named “Litigator of the Week” by The Am Law Litigation Daily, which noted that “investors still face a high bar in federal court in New York—home of one of the busiest securities dockets in the country.”
Copyright - The Walt Disney Company
Weil secured a unanimous decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirming a lower court’s summary judgment ruling for various Marvel entities and their parent The Walt Disney Company (collectively, Marvel) in a widely-followed copyright ownership dispute between Marvel and the heirs of Jack Kirby. Kirby was a noted comic book artist who worked for Marvel for decades, including during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when Marvel created many of its iconic comic book superheroes such as The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and The X-Men. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Weil’s clients in 2011. On appeal, the Second Circuit issued a precedential decision unanimously upholding the summary judgment ruling, and rejected all of the Kirby heirs’ arguments concerning copyright ownership, finding that the undisputed evidence established that the works at issue were created for Marvel as works made for hire as a matter of law.
Investigations – Marsh & McLennan
Weil obtained a significant, precedent-setting victory for Marsh before the Second Circuit that provides for the first time a solid framework supporting the right of a company to terminate an employee who fails to cooperate in an internal investigation of alleged wrongdoing. In this action, two former Marsh executives sought to obtain severance benefits and the value of stock options forfeited when they were terminated in the aftermath of a New York state investigation into the practice of “contingent commissions” and alleged bid-rigging. In June 2012, the S.D.N.Y. dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims for malicious prosecution and abuse of process on the pleadings, and in January 2015 the court granted Marsh’s summary judgment motion, dismissing Plaintiffs’ remaining claims for severance benefits under ERISA and for the value of their forfeited equity awards under state law. Then, in June 2016, following oral argument, the Second Circuit affirmed.
Patent – Illumina
Weil secured a Federal Circuit affirmation of a Patent Office decision on behalf of Illumina in one of the first appeals of an inter partes review decision. In 2012 Columbia University sued Illumina in the D. Del. for infringement of patents that allegedly cover next-generation DNA sequencing technology. Columbia accused Illumina’s entire product line of infringement, including Illumina’s $740,000 high throughput HiSeq sequencers, and requested injunctive relief and unspecified damages. In response, Illumina submitted petitions with the Patent Office to have Columbia’s patents placed under inter partes review. After Illumina prevailed in the Patent Office, Illumina brought on Weil for Columbia’s appeal. Being one of the first appeals of an inter partes review decision, there were substantial open issues as to how the Federal Circuit would review such decisions, including whether patent owners would be given leeway to amend claims to target accused infringers, which Columbia had attempted to do. In addition, the appeal raised new challenges regarding the presentation of a technical Patent Office record to an appellate court panel. After briefing was submitted, during oral argument in April 2015 Weil focused the case down to a single technical issue, and blunted Columbia’s evidence of willful infringement and copying with evidence of independent invention. In July 2015, the Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Office’s decisions on every point, and ruled that Columbia would not be permitted to amend its claims.
False Claims Act - Schindler Elevator Corp.
Weil won a high-profile appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court for Schindler Elevator Corp. in Schindler Elevator Corporation, Petitioner v. United States, ex rel. Daniel Kirk, a case interpreting the public-disclosure bar of the False Claims Act. This case had been closely watched by the business community and was of considerable importance to federal contractors doing business with the federal government.
Mass Torts - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
International Law - European Union
Music Licensing - DMX
Key Contacts



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Recent Announcements
- Weil Wins Appeal for Illumina Protecting Cutting-Edge DNA Sequencing Technology Litigation Win — February 02, 2021
- Weil Wins Appeal for NBA Star Zion Williamson in High-Profile Marketing Dispute Litigation Win — December 02, 2020
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP's appellate group is adept at representing clients before all federal circuit courts of appeals.”
Legal 500 2020
Firm News & Announcements, Recent Announcements
Awards and Recognition
- Weil Named 2020 Class Action Litigation Department of the Year Award Brief — New York Law Journal 2020
- Weil Named Class Action Litigation Department of the Year Award Brief — New York Law Journal 2020
- Weil Named a “Leading” Firm for Appellate: Court of Appeals Award Brief — Legal 500 US 2020
Speaking Engagements
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2020 Supreme Court IP Review
Speaker(s):
Anne M. Cappella
October 02, 2020 — Virtual Event — Patent Litigation Partner Anne Cappella participated on a panel previewing the Google v. Oracle case before the high court at the Chicago-Kent College of Law’s 2020 Supreme Court IP Review virtual conference.
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SCOTUS Deep Dive: The Trump Financial Subpoena Cases
Speaker(s):
Zack Tripp
March 16, 2020 — Podcast — Bloomberg Law Cases and Controversies — Weil Appellate practice Co-Head Zack Tripp participated in a Bloomberg Law Cases and Controversies podcast focusing on high-profile Supreme Court cases involving attempts by Congress and state prosecutors to access the president’s financial records.
Latest Thinking
- Ninth Circuit Holds that All Class Members Must Have Article III Standing to Recover Monetary Damages Alert — Class Action Monitor — By David R. Singh, Pravin R. Patel and Neeckaun Irani — PDF — September 2020
- Supreme Court Invalidates TCPA Government-Debt Collection Exception but Otherwise Preserves Law Alert — By Yehudah L. Buchweitz, Eric S. Hochstadt and Nathaniel F. West — PDF — July 09, 2020
- Supreme Court Clears the Way for Generic.com Trademark Registrations Alert — Intellectual Property & Media — By Jessica Lynn Falk and Lois Ahn — PDF — July 02, 2020
- Supreme Court Preserves SEC’s Power to Recoup Ill-Gotten Gains – With Limits Alert — White Collar Defense, Regulatory and Investigations — By Sarah Coyne, Adam Safwat, Eileen Hren Citron, Cecile Casali, Sarah Choi and Kaela Dahan — June 25, 2020
- What’s the Harm? Circuit Splits in Finding Concrete Injury Under Spokeo Alert — Class Action Monitor — By Lori L. Pines and Rachel E. Crosswell — PDF — March 2020
Firm News & Announcements
- Weil Wins Appeal for Illumina Protecting Cutting-Edge DNA Sequencing Technology Litigation Win — February 02, 2021
- Weil Wins Appeal for NBA Star Zion Williamson in High-Profile Marketing Dispute Litigation Win — December 02, 2020