Our appellate lawyers handle appeals involving our core practice areas, as well as other areas of law. For example, Durst has handled appeals involving:
- Commercial Law Appeals
- Employment Law Appeals
- Family Law Appeals
- Defamation Law Appeals
- Consumer Law Appeals
- Financial Services Law Appeals
- Personal Injury Law Appeals
- Criminal Law Appeals
- Qui Tam Appeals
- Constitutional Law Appeals
Exceptionally Qualified to Handle Ohio State and Federal Appeals
An appeal is an extension of the trial process. However, it requires a slightly different skill set. We often notice firsthand the competitive advantage of working with a dedicated Ohio appellate lawyer over using trial counsel. Our clients have the edge over opposing parties who use their trial counsel, fall prey to procedural pitfalls, and emphasize the wrong arguments.
In addition to representing our own clients on appeal when necessary, other lawyers and law firms often engage our firm to represent their clients on appeal. We offer exceptional representation in Ohio and federal appeals, particularly before Ohio’s First District Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Ohio, and the Sixth Circuit.
Leadership in Ohio Appellate Practice
Our Ohio appeal lawyers not only have extensive appellate experience, but maintain deep roots in the appellate legal community.
Paul R. Kerridge co-chairs the Cincinnati Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Group. Before forming Durst Kerridge, Paul served as an Assistant Attorney General, where he litigated appeals on behalf of the state of Ohio and its agencies; as a judicial attorney to the Honorable Justice Patrick F. Fischer of the Ohio Supreme Court; as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Chad A. Readler of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; and in the appellate practice of one of the Midwest’s largest law firms.
Alex J. Durst has continuously served as Chair of the Cincinnati Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Group since 2018, after joining the group in 2014 and serving as its Secretary from 2016 to 2018. In this capacity, Alex works closely with the Judges, Staff Attorneys, and Administrators of the First District Court of Appeals to organize CLEs, update the legal community on local rule changes, court updates, and other developments in the First District, and put on events bringing together the appellate bar and bench.
Alex also emcees and presents at the Biennial Appellate Practice Group CLE, which typically includes a panel discussion featuring all six First District Judges. Alex was also appointed by the First District to its local rules committee in 2018 and to its pro bono committee in 2023.
Our record of successful appellate advocacy includes:
Won reversal by the United States Supreme Court in a qui tam matter. The decision paves the way for a potential damages award of over $2 Billion.
Successfully defended liability determination in multi-million dollar payments industry dispute.
Obtained complete dismissal on procedural grounds of appeal of substantial sanctions/attorney fee award obtained in favor of our client.
Argued and won precedent-setting case before the Supreme Court of Ohio involving the right of indigent defendants to effective assistance of counsel after being chosen to represent the Defendant on appeal.
Argued in the Massachusetts Appeals Court in case of first impression involving the application of Massachusetts’ Saving Statute, G. L. c. 260, § 32.
Obtained reversal of summary judgment decision on behalf of Plaintiff client.
Won multiple family law appeals after being specially retained on appeal, including a “180-degree reversal” of a child custody decision which resulted in an immediate award of custody to the firm’s clients (the child’s long-standing foster parents).
Successfully obtained interim relief such as stays of execution pending appeal in the First District and the Supreme Court of Ohio (including on an emergency basis).
Our Appellate Services
At Durst, we handle all aspects of the appeals process for our clients and offer comprehensive appellate services as local counsel to out-of-state trial firms. More so, our appeal lawyers in Ohio are often hired at the trial level before an appeal has been filed. Our appellate advocacy includes, but is not limited to:
- Assisting trial counsel with preserving issues for appeal, ensuring procedural requisites for an appeal are satisfied, and drafting post-trial motions in anticipation of an appeal
- Developing appellate strategy, including the selection of issues to raise on appeal, the framing of legal arguments, and the most effective presentation of the client’s case
- Preparing and drafting persuasive appellate briefs
- Preparing and executing oral arguments
We are highly knowledgeable regarding:
- Ohio state and federal appellate procedure
- Securing the right to an appeal in Ohio state courts and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Seeking (or challenging) a stay pending appeal, including on an emergency, ex-parte basis
- Litigation of nuanced “final and appealable” order issues
- Ohio Supreme Court practice, including seeking the Court’s acceptance of a jurisdictional appeal, seeking a stay of an intermediate appellate court’s decision, motion practice, briefing, and oral argument
Contact the Ohio Appellate Attorneys of Durst Kerridge
If you need an appellate attorney in Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, or elsewhere in Ohio, call Durst Kerridge at (513) 621-4999 to discuss your options.