Appellate Services

Andy has enjoyed reading and studying the law since entering law school in 1979. Andy's deep interest in the law led him to develop an active appellate law practice as a counterpart to his trial work. In 1992, Andy was certified as a specialist in the field of Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Over the years, Andy has prosecuted and defended numerous appeals for both plaintiffs and defendants in the federal appellate courts as well as the various Texas courts of appeal and the Texas Supreme Court.  He has appeared before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans over a dozen times, including arguing and winning two en banc appeals to the full court, Bartley v. Euclid, 180 F.3d 175 (5th Cir. 1998) and Coggin v. Longview I.S.D., 337 F.3d 459 (5th Cir. 2003).

In connection with his appellate practice, Andy is frequently retained by clients and law firms at the early stages of litigation to provide advice and counsel in a host of areas such as cause of action development, defense strategy, discovery planning and structure, preparing or responding to case dispositive motions, preparing and arguing the court's instructions to the jury, drafting or responding to post-trial motions and performing general legal research as needed and requested by the client.

Andy has also routinely assisted retaining attorneys by acting as co-counsel on appeal assisting with brief preparation and argument strategy or by acting as lead appellate counsel at the request of the client or the trial attorneys.  In whatever capacity retained, Andy will be a valued addition to the trial team assembled to pursue the client's interests and litigation goals.