The qualities you need are all right here, in a board-certified appellate expert.
Focus.
When I work on your case, you will have my complete attention and 110% effort. Every case is the next opportunity to deliver top-notch work for my clients — and for myself. I am completely devoted to my art. I am driven by the deep and abiding conviction that I have found my purpose: writing and arguing the best possible briefs, motions, and petitions for real people and small business, including solo practitioners and law firms.
Skill.
I only do one thing, so I’d better do it well. Florida bar board certification as an appellate expert means you can trust my skills. You can also see examples of some of my work to decide the quality for yourself.
Experience.
I don’t come from privilege. I graduated from Brunswick High School in southeast Georgia at age 16, and graduated from University of Texas three years later. I lived in Chicago, Auckland, and Suzhou before I started my legal career with a superb education at Vanderbilt University Law School, a top-20 school nationwide.
After I graduated in the class of 2007 I survived the excruciatingly competitive application process for a federal clerkship, first at the trial level and then at the United States Court of Appeals. I was admitted to the Florida Bar at the end of 2007.
After five years of helping the best judges in the country decide federal cases, I learned Florida state practice from Susan Fox of Fox and Loquasto, winner of the 2017 James Adkins award for her lifetime contribution to appellate practice in Florida.
I serve the Florida Justice Association as a Director of the Appellate Practice Section.
My work on legal procedure is published in state bar journals, scholarly law reviews, and national digests.
I have served as court-appointed counsel for indigents in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and in Georgia state courts.
I’m proud of my credentials and experience. I think you’ll see the difference in the end product. For examples of my work,
P.S. The following disclosures are no longer legally mandated, but still good advice:
"The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision. Before you decide to hire the lawyer to whom you are referred, ask that lawyer for written information about that lawyer's qualifications and experience."
“Guests on the Jerry Springer show argue. Lawyers persuade.”
“Precision is the main concern of good writing. Many legal writers lack the ability to write simple, straightforward prose. In order to write with clarity and precision, the writer must know precisely what he or she wants to say and must say that and nothing else.”
“Using a $10 word when a nickel would do does not strengthen your argument, but being careful with your language when necessary will.”
“In my twelve years on the bench, I have seen much written work by lawyers that is quite appalling. Many lawyers appear not to understand even the most elementary matters pertaining to style of presentation in legal writing, things that serve to facilitate communications between lawyers and clients, lawyers and opposing counsel, and lawyers and governmental decisionmakers or policymakers.”
“The appellate practitioner requires the imagination and intuition of the artist, the discipline and logic of the scientist, the design sense of the architect, and the expertise in human perception of the psychologist. But most importantly he must be able to view the overall problem through the eyes of appellate judges and manifest qualities of overview, objectivity, and fairness. ”