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Bernstein Liebhard LLP
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Supreme Court & Appellate Practice
The Firm’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice Group handles all the Firm’s appeals and prepares amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs on a pro bono basis in important cases affecting the Firm’s clients.
Significantly, the Group consults with our litigation and trial teams from the earliest stages of every litigation to ensure that our clients are well positioned to win not only at the trial level, but also in the event of an appeal by either side.
Group members include partner Felecia Stern and of counsel Christian Siebott, both of whom clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
| "The lawyers at Bernstein Liebhard did an outstanding job on the brief and in representing our Fund and fellow amici before the U.S. Supreme Court." Michael Palladino, President of the NYPD DEA, in response to the Supreme Court's decision in Wyeth v. Levine. |
The securities cases in which the Firm has filed important amicus curiae briefs include: Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., No. 06-43, and Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., No. 06-484, both before the United States Supreme Court, and In re Dynex Capital Securities Litigation, No. 06-2902-cv, before the Second Circuit. These briefs were filed on behalf of eight states and five public pension funds in three cases concerning critical issues of investor protection and securities litigation. These states and public pension funds collectively manage approximately $568 billion of pension funds, represent millions of pensioners, and have an acute interest in ensuring that investor rights are protected.
The Firm also filed an amicus curiae brief in the Supreme Court on behalf of Professor Arthur R. Miller, co-author of the authoritative Federal Practice and Procedure, in Exxon Shipping Company v. Baker, No. 07-219. The appeal, arising from the protracted litigation following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, addressed complex issues of procedural law, including the proper application of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50.
In August 2008, the Firm’s appellate team, with partner Eric Chaffin and associate Roopal Luhana, filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Wyeth v. Levine, No. 06-1249. The Court issued its ruling in a landmark decision in March 2009. The Court, siding with Ms. Levine and Bernstein Liebhard's clients, concluded that FDA-approved labeling of pharmaceutical drugs does not preempt state law product liability claims for injuries caused by the drugs. The Firm prepared the amicus brief on behalf of various doctors and third-party payer union health and welfare funds, which the Firm represents in third-party payer health care-related litigation.
