Services

Led by Andrew Rozynski and David John Hommel, the firm’s Appellate Practice Group rebuilds cases from the ground up. Our attorneys have argued before a wide range of federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. Our work focuses on cutting-edge legal issues across a broad range of practice areas.

For example, partner Eric Baum successfully argued before the Second Circuit that temporary works of art, including aerosol art, qualify for protections under the Visual Artists Rights Act. The decision also affirmed a trial court’s award of $6.75 million in damages to visual artists responsible for the mural space known at 5 Pointz.

This year, Andrew Rozynski obtained a reversal before the Eleventh Circuit, which clarified an employer’s obligation to provide deaf employees equal access to the benefits and privileges of employment.

In the same vein, Mr. Hommel recently convinced the Second Circuit to revive an employee’s lawsuit and allow discovery on whether she failed to receive accommodations months after her employment started.

Then in the Fourth Circuit, Mr. Hommel successfully represented a deaf father in his lawsuit against a hospital for failing to provide sign-language interpreters for his child’s birth. The case also resolved an open question on the standard to receive compensatory damages. On that front, the Fourth Circuit made clear that a disability-discrimination lawsuit does not require widespread violations that span across multiple people or interactions.

Last summer, Mr. Rozynski convinced the Fifth Circuit that a no-harm-no-foul theory has no place under disability law because a lack of meaningful access is a legal injury.

Mr. Rozynski and Mr. Hommel also secured victories for discrimination plaintiffs in the Second and Sixth Circuits despite a then-majority view held by district courts. Ultimately, under the Affordable Care Act, plaintiffs have a four-year window to have their day in court, and the appellate decisions also confirm a broad construction of the statute, especially for those seeking reasonable accommodations.

In addition, Mr. Rozynski has reversed grants of summary judgment before many courts, including the Second and Ninth Circuits. In doing so, he has provided clarity to a plaintiff’s entitlement to compensatory damages and reasonable accommodations under the law.

Even before these appeals (and others), our attorneys collaborate with trial teams to spot legal issues, protect the record on appeal, and lead motion practice on summary judgment and evidentiary issues. In doing so, the firm has successfully vacated adverse grants of motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, and post-trial rulings.