Appellate Litigation

Kostelanetz LLP maintains a robust appellate litigation practice in federal and state courts and in civil and criminal matters. 

Our attorneys’ extensive experience as both prosecutors and defense attorneys — representing the government and defendants in federal and state appeals — has established a strong foundation for our appellate litigation practice in tax and criminal matters and reinforced our firm’s equally vigorous representation of clients in civil appeals in the commercial arena.

Our attorneys are also regularly called upon by clients to write “friend of the court,” or amicus, briefs in support or opposition to higher court review of major cases involving complex tax, legal, and constitutional questions. 

Our arguments have proven persuasive. In the U.S. Supreme Court’s groundbreaking 2023 decision in the case of Alexandru Bittner v. United States (No. 21-1195), the Court adopted the position advocated by the American College of Tax Counsel (ACTC) in an amicus brief written filed by Kostelanetz attorneys. In doing so, the Court held that the penalty for a non-willful failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) applies on a per-report basis, and not on a per-account basis. 

Caroline Rule, a leader of the firm’s appellate litigation practice, began her legal career as a clerk to the Hon. John J. Gibbons, then-Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She then undertook a two-year commitment to represent indigent state criminal defendants on appeal as a staff attorney at the Office of the Appellate Defender in Manhattan. 

Another leader in the firm’s appellate litigation practice is Andrew Weiner, who served as a trial attorney for over a decade with the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division where he briefed and argued approximately 50 cases before the United States courts of appeals. At Kostelanetz, Andy has been instrumental in assisting clients wishing to file amicus briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appeals courts, and the U.S. Tax Court on complicated constitutional and procedural questions related to taxation and the tax code.

Additionally, Gray Proctor, of counsel in Kostelanetz’s Atlanta office, brings broad experience spanning many substantive areas of law, including criminal and postconviction matters.  He has maintained an appellate and trial support practice for over 13 years, and he has been recognized as a board-certified appellate expert in Florida since 2021. He also accepts appointed federal criminal defendants for the Eleventh Circuit. A veteran of disputes involving a broad range of substantive matters, he is admitted to practice in the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeal.