Whether setting precedents at the U.S. Supreme Court, reversing unfavorable trial results or defending major victories, we deliver sophisticated appellate advocacy in courts across the country. Our top-ranked appellate team handles the highest-stakes appeals with intellect, creativity and strategic insight.

Appellate

Shaping the law through persuasive advocacy.

Appellate

Overview

Appellate challenges often arise at pivotal moments — when business-critical rulings are at stake, new precedents are being set or swift, decisive action is needed to protect hard-won outcomes or fundamental rights. At those junctures, Munger, Tolles & Olson’s appellate attorneys step in with the experience, judgment and focus needed to chart an optimal course.

Our team includes a former U.S. Solicitor General and several other nationally recognized appellate advocates who have argued hundreds of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts. We represent public and private companies, government entities and individuals in appeals involving a wide range of issues, including antitrust, securities, intellectual property, regulatory oversight and cross-border disputes. Our experience and record of success has earned our appellate practice a nationwide Band 1 ranking from Chambers USA.

Clients trust us to provide strategic litigation counsel from trial through appeal. In litigation, we work with trial teams to preserve issues for appeal and ensure that legal issues are presented as compellingly as possible. When appeals arise, whether after final judgment or at an interlocutory stage, we work closely with clients to assess risks, identify the strongest arguments and deliver clear, compelling advocacy that aligns with broader business and legal goals.

MTO has secured a string of victories in landmark cases involving health care, voting rights, infrastructure, financial regulation and class-action defense. Our lawyers also are regularly sought out to represent amici curiae and to handle certiorari-stage proceedings at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Whether the objective is to reverse an adverse ruling, uphold a critical victory or shape emerging areas of law, MTO’s appellate attorneys bring legal and strategic clarity to the most complex challenges faced by our clients and the judicial system as whole.

Featured achievement.

Law360 Names MTO “Legal Lions of the Week” After Securing Win in Federal Circuit

Munger, Tolles & Olson was named to Law360’s “Legal Lions of the Week” column after securing an appellate victory for Google LLC before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sitting en banc.

Experience

We have represented a wide range of clients on an equally broad range of appellate matters. Our representations include:

The American Hospital Association before the U.S. Supreme Court in successfully challenging a Medicare rule change that denied hospitals more than $4 billion in past reimbursements and threatened to deny billions more in reimbursements going forward.

BMO Harris before the Eighth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court in striking down a judgment totaling $1.5 billion in a case arising out of the $3.8 billion Petters Ponzi scheme.

A national pharmacy chain in a Sixth Circuit appeal that reversed a $650 million verdict arising out of multidistrict litigation concerning the opioid crisis.

Grayscale Investments, LLC, in successfully challenging in the D.C. Circuit a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to deny a proposal by a national securities exchange to list and trade a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit in winning an emergency application to the Supreme Court to vacate stays placed on construction of a gas pipeline, and then winning a complete dismissal by a Fourth Circuit panel of lawsuits brought by the project’s opponents.

American Express Company in successfully establishing pathmarking antitrust precedent in the U.S. Supreme Court on multi-sided platforms.

The State of North Carolina in successfully arguing on behalf of the state in the U.S. Supreme Court that the Constitution’s Elections Clause does not strip state courts of their power to enforce state constitutions that limit the power of state legislatures when they set rules for federal elections.

Google in an en banc proceeding in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in EcoFactor, Inc. v. Google LLC that set an important precedent concerning evidence of patent damages.

Lyft, Inc. in successful appeals in the multiple circuits defining the scope of the transportation-worker exception to the Federal Arbitration Act as applied to rideshare drivers and local delivery drivers.

The four largest freight railroads in the United States in persuading the D.C. Circuit, in a sweeping antitrust matter that consolidates approximately 100 price-fixing cases against four rail carriers, to exclude on statutory grounds certain evidence relating to discussions between railroads about interline shipping.

The U.S. House of Representatives in successfully defeating in the U.S. Supreme Court a challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

AbbVie Inc. in winning an important Third Circuit appeal affirming denial of class certification on ascertainability grounds in long-running putative class actions by direct and indirect drug purchasers.

Wells Fargo Bank NA in the California Supreme Court in a case establishing that lenders and loan services are not obligated to protect a borrower’s economic interests when processing a mortgage modification application.

Google in setting an important precedent for obtaining mandamus relief for patent infringement matters, as well as in multiple Federal Circuit appeals.

An individual defendant in United States v. Blaszczak et al. in securing a favorable decision from the Second Circuit overturning a first-of-its-kind criminal conviction that applied federal criminal fraud statutes to the alleged misuse of confidential government information.

BNSF Railway Co. in numerous successful Ninth Circuit appeals involving issues such as discriminatory taxation and preemption under the ICC Termination Act and other federal laws.

International organizations such as the International Finance Corporation and Interpol in appeals in numerous courts concerning international organizational immunity in the United States.

Farmers and landowners in successfully defending in the Federal Circuit a trial court ruling awarding more than $10 million in compensation for the taking of farmlands through recurring flooding along the Missouri River that was caused by massive river alterations made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Chevron-Texaco Corporation in obtaining dismissal, affirmed on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, of a suit filed by retail gasoline consumers asserting that Chevron and other major domestic oil companies conspired to raise prices during spring 2020.

Google and YouTube in winning a denial of a preliminary injunction, affirmed on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, against a lawsuit filed by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who asserted First Amendment claims against Google for taking down his videos questioning the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., in obtaining a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that insurance companies could not pursue their own legal actions against those blamed for the devastating 2023 Maui wildfires, allowing a historic settlement resolving litigation related to the wildfires to proceed.