Appellate Advocacy

With over 500 published appellate cases, Royston has a rich tradition of representing parties before appellate courts, and presenting cases of first impression which make law. Some, such as the seminal jurisdictional opinion Chick Kam Choo v. Exxon, have found their way to law school classrooms. That tradition continues today. The appellate section is comprised of former federal and state judicial law clerks and attorneys with litigation experience who not only argue before courts of appeal, but also preserve error during the litigation process. Within the recent past, Royston's appellate team has argued cases ranging from First Amendment freedom of association issues in In re Bay Area Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, 982 S.W.2d 371 (Tex. 1998), to interpreting the Federal Arbitration Act in Fedmet Corp. v. M/V Buyalyk, 194 F.3d 674 (5th Cir. 1999), to a case regarding choice of law provisions and forum selection clauses in Afram Carriers, Inc. v. Moeykens, 145 F.3d 298 (5th Cir.), reh'g en banc denied, 157 F.3d 298 (5th Cir. 1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1141 (1999), to the case establishing the manifestation test for property damage under a commercial general liability policy in American Home Assurance Co. v. Unitramp, Ltd., 146 F.3d 311 (5th Cir. 1998), to a case applying forum non conveniens in the contract context in Seguros Comercial America S.A. de C.V. v. American President Lines, Ltd., 966 S.W.2d 652 (Tex. App.-- San Antonio 1998, no writ), to a case of first impression in the Fifth Circuit regarding the doctrine of foreign equivalents in the trademark context in Enrique Bernat F. v. Guadalajara, Inc., - F.3d - (5th Cir. 2000).

Not only is each member of the appellate section experienced in the appellate process, but each attorney also has experience in a subset of the law which gives the client an attorney who is readily familiar with the legal issues involved in ever complex appellate litigation.