Chaffe McCall, L.L.P. - New Orleans Law Firm
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Chaffe, McCall, Phillips, Toler & Sarpy, L.L.P.
New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Louisiana ~ Caracus, Venezuela  

Practice Areas
Appellate Practice


The Appellate Practice Section represents clients at all levels of Louisiana and federal appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court. The Section’s attorneys not only work closely with fellow litigators within the firm, but also co-draft appellate briefs and writ applications with other lawyers and firms who have tried cases independently. We likewise appear for amici curiae on critical issues in cases pending on appeal or review that affect their industries and interests.

Our Section’s focus on appellate practice offers distinct advantages to our clients:

Knowledge: We are fully conversant with the intricacies of appellate jurisdiction, rules, procedures, and standards of review.

Objectivity: Our unique perspective as appellate practitioners allows us to analyze and evaluate trial records objectively, providing a strong complement to trial attorneys in identifying appealable issues and assignments of error. We also consult with trial counsel before and during district court proceedings to assist in formulating strategies and preserving issues in anticipation of possible appellate review later in the case.

Advocacy: We are dedicated legal researchers and writers committed to crafting, documenting, and supporting arguments designed to interest, convince, and persuade appellate judges.

Federal courts

Our motion, appeal, and writ practice comprises cases arising in virtually all substantive areas of the law, including commercial litigation, admiralty and maritime, employment, insurance, oil and gas, and products-liability law. We have experience in representing clients on review of both final and interlocutory judgments, including petitions for mandamus, appeals certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b), and matters involving class actions, injunctions, and arbitration motions. Some examples of our appellate advocacy include the following decisions:

  • In Liverpool & London S.S. Protection & Indemnity Association v. M/V QUEEN OF LEMAN, 296 F.3d 350 (5th Cir. 2002), we obtained an appellate decision overturning the district court’s ruling and holding that the choice-of-law provisions in our client’s (Liverpool & London’s) contract were valid and enforceable.
  • In Babcock v. Hartmarx Corp., 182 F.3d 336 (5th Cir. 1999), we won a reversal of the district court’s summary judgment against our client in an ERISA breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim, resulting in the dismissal of the case as time-barred under 29 U.S.C. § 1113.
  • In Dutton v. University Healthcare System, L.L.C., 136 Fed. Appx. 596 (5th Cir. 2005), we won an affirmance of a summary judgment in favor of our client in a suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act and obtained an award of additional attorney’s fees on appeal.

Louisiana state courts

Louisiana appellate practice significantly differs from that of other jurisdictions, because the state’s appellate courts review law and facts. After finding reversible or manifest error, an appellate court must conduct an independent review of the trial record and, if the record is complete, make findings of fact and render judgment, without remanding the action for a new trial. We have prosecuted and defended appeals for our clients in all of the State’s five intermediate circuit courts of appeal and in the Louisiana Supreme Court in a variety of cases, including the following representative matters:

  • In Galjour v. Bank One Equity Investors-Bidco, Inc., 935 So. 2d 716 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2006), we obtained an affirmance of a judgment denying class certification in a shareholder suit alleging breach of fiduciary duty arising out of a merger of two privately held companies.
  • In K.D.D. Smith, et al. v. Cutter Biological, a Div. of Miles, Inc., 770 So. 2d 392 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2000), we worked closely with trial attorneys within the firm on multiple writ applications during trial and on a subsequent appeal affirming the trial judge’s dismissal of the case as time-barred.
  • In Nicholas v. Allstate Insurance Co., 765 So. 2d 1017 (La. 2000), we joined another firm as co-counsel in a certiorari application to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which overturned a jury verdict and lower-court judgment against the client in a suit by a former employee alleging damages from his job termination.

When a judgment does not dispose of the entire action, the Section works with trial counsel to determine whether the judgment is a partial final judgment (which must be appealed immediately). The Section also advises whether the judgment can be certified by the district court as an appealable judgment and, if so, whether certification and immediate appeal are preferable to awaiting the final disposition of the entire action.

A good example of certifying a judgment for immediate appeal is Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Inc. and First Orleans Hotel Associates, L.P. v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., 974 So. 2d 72 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2007), where we represented the owner of a hotel in New Orleans in a claim for insurance proceeds for property losses caused by Hurricane Katrina. We filed a motion for a partial summary judgment, asking the district court to find that the policy’s limit for flood losses was triple what the insurer contended that it was, and the trial court granted the motion. We decided that an immediate appeal of that judgment would be preferable to awaiting an appeal from a final judgment resolving all of the issues after a trial. With the assent of the opposing party, we prepared a joint motion to certify the partial summary judgment as a partial final judgment. Our motion listed five factors required for such a designation and showed that all five were present. The trial court granted the motion, the insurer appealed, and the appellate court affirmed the judgment.

In addition to their jurisdiction in appeals of right, Louisiana’s courts of appeal and supreme court have broad discretion to exercise their supervisory powers over trial courts. The appellate courts often use this authority to intervene in any stage of a district court proceeding, before, during, or after trial, to review interlocutory rulings. In 2007, for example, 1,546 applications for supervisory writs were filed with Louisiana’s intermediate appellate courts in civil cases (excluding pro se), of which 306 -– almost a fifth -- were granted.

Chaffe McCall’s appellate attorneys have applied for or opposed supervisory writ applications on numerous interlocutory issues, including the right to trial by jury, discovery disputes, privilege questions, stay orders, and denials of exceptions and summary-judgment motions. For example, in a products-liability action arising out of a residential fire, we represented the defendant manufacturer and won a jury verdict, exonerating our client from liability, after a trial on the merits. When the district judge ordered a new trial, we sought writ review of that order, and the Louisiana Fourth Circuit reinstated the verdict in favor of our client. The plaintiffs later filed an appeal from the zero verdict, and the appellate court affirmed the judgment in our client’s favor.

Amicus curiae briefs

An amicus curiae brief by an interested non-party in a case on appeal or writ review can supplement the litigants’ briefing and assist the reviewing court, especially when the judgment has critical ramifications and effects on an industry, trade group, or association. An amicus brief alerts the appellate court to concerns, considerations, and policies beyond the issues that the named parties may have briefed on appeal. Chaffe McCall’s Appellate Practice Section has represented various amici curiae in several cases, including the following examples:

  • In Lane v. R.A. Sims, Jr., Inc., 241 F.3d 439 (5th Cir. 2001), we filed an amicus brief for the Association of American Railroads concerning the application of the Federal Railroad Safety Act, 49 U.S.C. §§ 20101-20153, and train speed regulations promulgated thereunder, in a railroad employee’s action under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 49 U.S.C. §§ 51-60.
  • In Hooks v. Kennedy, 961 So. 2d 425 (La. App. 1 Cir. 2007), we represented the National Association of State Treasurers and the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators as amici in a case challenging the constitutionality of the Louisiana Unclaimed Property Act, La. R.S. 9:151, et seq.

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Chaffe McCall’s Appellate Practice Section is headed by Douglas L. Grundmeyer, who received a BA from Tulane University in 1970, an MA in English from the University of New Orleans in 1974, and a JD from Tulane Law School in 1976, where he was a member of the Moot Court Board. Before joining Chaffe McCall in 1988, where he has concentrated his practice almost exclusively on appellate matters, Doug served as a senior law clerk to the Hon. James C. Gulotta, chief judge of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, and was a contributing editor of Vols. 21 and 21A, Am. Jur. 2d, Criminal Law (Lawyers Co-Op, 1981) and a contributing author of Louisiana Appellate Practice Handbook (Lawyers Co-Op, 1986). Doug is a member of the Louisiana and American Bar Associations, the State Bar of California, and the Bars of the United States Supreme Court and the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Fifth, and Eleventh Circuits. He has been profiled in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law, and is a member of the Defense Research Institute (Appellate Advocacy Committee) and Scribes (the American Society of Legal Writers).  Doug's email is .



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Chaffe McCall, L.L.P.
2300 Energy Centre | 1100 Poydras Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70163-2300
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