Appellate Practice

Practice Areas

An appellate lawyer brings a distinct expertise to a case — whatever its subject matter.

Appellate courts do not retry the case. Their review is generally limited to whether the law was correctly applied in the court below. Winning an appeal turns on careful issue selection, command of the standard of review, and writing that earns a busy court's trust — and appeals can be sidetracked by thorny jurisdictional questions. Bringing in dedicated appellate counsel early, even before judgment, can preserve issues, sharpen the record, and materially improve the odds on appeal.

Whatever kind of case you have, Hearron PLLC works to identify the strongest arguments, frame them persuasively, and present them with the clarity that appellate judges reward.

Marc Hearron's appellate experience runs the gamut — administrative law, antitrust, bankruptcy, First Amendment, patent, trademark, class action, and more — and he has filed dozens of amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in both pro bono and paid cases. Here are some of the significant appellate matters he has handled.

  • City of Santa Monica v. United States (9th Cir. 2016). Victory for Santa Monica, successfully reinstating the City's suit against the federal government over control of the City's airport.
  • NBAA v. Huerta (D.C. Cir. 2018). Win for Santa Monica upholding the City's settlement with the FAA allowing airport closure.
  • RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank (SCOTUS 2012). Represented respondent in Supreme Court win in case interpreting the "cramdown" provision of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
  • Ransom v. FIA Card Services, N.A. (SCOTUS 2011). Represented respondent in Supreme Court victory interpreting the 2005 "means test" amendment to Chapter 13 of the Bankruptcy Code.
  • Berry v. Schulman (4th Cir. 2015). Victory for client, securing affirmance of certification and approval of the largest-ever class-action settlement (200 million members).
  • Helping Hand Tools v. EPA (9th Cir. 2016). Groundbreaking Clean Air Act decision upholding EPA's framework for evaluating the best available control technology for greenhouse-gas emissions from facilities burning biomass fuels.
  • National Abortion Federation v. Center for Medical Progress (9th Cir. 2017). Argued and successfully obtained affirmance of a preliminary injunction barring publication of videos surreptitiously recorded at NAF's annual meetings.
  • V. L. v. E. L. (2016). As lead counsel for the court-appointed guardian ad litem, obtained a U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring recognition of second-parent adoption judgments issued to same-sex couples.
  • Otter v. Latta (2014). Convinced the Supreme Court to lift a stay of a ruling striking down Idaho's marriage ban, allowing same-sex couples to marry in Idaho months before Obergefell.
  • Immersion v. HTC (Fed. Cir. 2016). Decision upholding filing rules at the Patent & Trademark Office, in a case Law360 named one of the five biggest patent cases of 2016.
  • Oracle America, Inc. v. Google, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2015). Argued and won for Oracle in a dispute over the validity of an Oracle patent covering aspects of the Java Virtual Machine.
  • Hitachi Metals v. Alliance of Rare-Earth Permanent Magnet Indus. (Fed. Cir. 2016). Argued and won in the Federal Circuit for the patentee in a challenge to a patented process to make powder for rare-earth magnets.
  • Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2015). In a client victory, obtained a favorable interpretation of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act (Hatch-Waxman Act), a key statute in the pharmaceutical industry.
  • Amgen Inc. v. Sandoz Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2015). Win in the first-ever appellate decision interpreting the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (part of the Affordable Care Act), which established the ground rules for the biosimilars market.
  • Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson (SCOTUS 2021). Led the team of lawyers from six organizations in the federal challenge to Texas's unprecedented six-week abortion ban enforced through civil, vigilante-style lawsuits. Argued in the U.S. Supreme Court on 10 days' notice. Also argued in the Fifth Circuit and Texas Supreme Court.
  • Zurawski v. Texas (Tex. S.Ct. 2024). Developed and oversaw the litigation strategy to clarify and expand abortion bans' medical exceptions. Represented more than 20 individual patients who were denied abortions, as well as hospital-based OB/GYNs. The trial and appeal were detailed in a feature documentary, Zurawski v. Texas. Also represented Kate Cox as she sued for the right to an abortion after receiving a lethal fetal diagnosis; Cox's case garnered a national spotlight.
  • Neurovision v. NuVasive (9th Cir. 2012). Reversal of a $60 million verdict and cancellation of a federal trademark.