Ryan Ryan Deluca LLP

Appellate Practice

Effective appellate advocacy requires the finely tuned ability to review the record with a critical eye; to determine the viability of an appeal; to identify, analyze, and brief determinative legal and factual issues; and to present a logical and persuasive oral argument. This practice can be more demanding than trial. The record on appeal is usually fixed, the standards that permit relief are more stringent, and months of litigation must be condensed into an appellate brief. Unlike a jury trial, an oral argument provides an appellate attorney with only minutes to present a clear and forceful response to a question from the bench. Persuasive legal writing and oration are essential.

With extensive experience, our appellate practice group is prepared to handle any challenge in federal or state appellate courts.

The firm’s recent representative appellate case wins include:

Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Lone Star Industries, Inc., 290 Conn. 767 (2009). (Upholding validity of silica exclusion in toxic tort coverage action).

Hamilton v. United Services Automobile Assoc., 115 Conn. App. 774 (2009). (Holding that injured party cannot maintain declaratory judgment action against third party insurer absent judgment against insured).

Stearns and Wheeler, LLC., v. Kowalsky Brothers, Inc., 289 Conn. 1 (2008). (Assignment of CUTPA claim against employer unenforceable).

DaGraca v. Kowalsky Brothers, Inc., 100 Conn. App. 781, cert. denied, 283 Conn. 904 (2007). (Wrongful-death actions against employer and related individuals seeking recovery regarding work-related incident in which employees were asphyxiated after descending into manhole).

Juchniewicz v. Bridgeport Hospital, 281 Conn. 29 (2007). (Estate of patient, who died from an untreated bacterial infection that caused her to suffer toxic shock syndrome, brought wrongful death action against physician and hospital).

Auster v. Norwalk United Methodist Church, 94 Conn. App. 617, cert. granted, 278 Conn. 915 (2006). (Finding church was not a “keeper” of church employee's dog under Connecticut's dog bite statute).

Lin v. National R.R. Passenger Corp., 277 Conn. 1 (2006). (Estate of pedestrian, who was struck and killed by a train while walking on a railroad trestle, brought wrongful death action against railroad).

Judson v. Brown, 98 Conn. App. 381 (2006). (Medical malpractice action).