Oftentimes, our justice system provides litigants the right to appeal from decisions of lower courts and administrative agencies. Appellate advocacy is a unique form of legal representation that calls for skills separate and apart from other forms of advocacy.
At Everett Gaskins Hancock, we understand that effective appellate advocacy requires not only a thorough knowledge of the procedural rules and techniques for writing convincing briefs, but also the art of storytelling, both in the written brief and in oral argument. EGH’s appellate lawyers have been telling their clients’ stories for more than 40 years, in matters involving EGH at the hearing and trial level, as well as matters referred to EGH for appeal after hearing or trial by others. We approach each appeal with equal craft and vigor, while maintaining an unwavering respect for the court.
EGH’s approach to appellate advocacy has proved effective over the years as evidenced by several cases we have handled recently identified by North Carolina’s Lawyer’s Weekly as among the state’s “most important opinions.” See Egelhoff v. Szulik, 193 N.C. App. 612, 668 S.E.2d 367 (2008) and Crawford v. Mintz, 195 N.C. App. 713, 673 S.E.2d 746 (2009). A more recent case was also the subject of a featured article in Lawyers Weekly: Mitchell, Brewer, Richardson, Adams, Burge & Boughman, PLLC v. Brewer, 209 N.C. App. 369, 705 S.E.2d 757 (2011). Our other notable cases include Lawyer Title Ins. Corp v. Zogreo, LLC, 702 S.E.2d 222 (N.C. App. 2010) in which Michael Byrne obtained judgment for insurance companies and insureds in a construction lien priority dispute, and Fox-Kirk v. Hannon, 142 N.C. App. 267, 542 S.E.2d 346 (2001) in which clients were awarded $1.675 million.
