Appellate Law

Experienced Appellate Attorneys

Thomas & LoCicero PL attorneys have advocated before state and federal appellate courts in countless cases. In the courts of appeal, it is critical that parties be represented by lawyers who craft top-quality briefs and present persuasive oral arguments. That is precisely what we do.

Our lawyers have clerked with state court judges, federal district courts, and federal circuit courts of appeals. Because our attorneys have assisted jurists analyzing and deciding numerous cases and in drafting their opinions, we are especially attuned to the questions and concerns judges may have in any given case.

Notable Decisions

Thomas & LoCicero attorneys have argued before federal and state courts of appeal, the Florida Supreme Court and the United State Supreme Court. Some of our more noteworthy cases include the following:

• Butterworth v. Smith, 494 U.S. 624 (1990). On behalf of a newspaper reporter, Thomas & LoCicero lawyers persuaded the United States Supreme Court that a Florida statute prohibiting a reporter from disclosing his own grand jury testimony violated the First Amendment.

• Sun-Sentinel Co. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 489 F.3d 1173 - (11th Cir. 2007) In the aftermath of the devastating 2004 hurricane season, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) refused to release to newspapers key information concerning its distribution of disaster relief funds. Lawyers from Thomas & LoCicero convinced the federal district court and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to compel release of this critical information.

• Tyne v. Time-Warner Entertainment Co., 901 So. 2d 802 (Fla. 2005). In a case in which our attorneys represented the producers of the motion picture The Perfect Storm, the Florida Supreme Court for the first time defined Florida's statutory right of publicity and affirmed the right of creative artists to comment on historical figures without seeking their permission.

• Tribune Co. v. Huffstetler, 489 So. 2d 722 (Fla. 1986). After a newspaper reporter was held in contempt for refusing to disclose a confidential source, our lawyers persuaded the Florida Supreme Court that the reporter had a First Amendment privilege not to reveal his source.

Amicus Efforts

The excellence of the appellate services we provide is demonstrated by the frequency with which we are asked to file amicus curiae (i.e., "friend of the court") briefs in hotly contested appellate matters. Whenever an issue affects our clients, we are there to make sure our clients' voices are heard.

For example, Thomas & LoCicero PL filed an amicus curiae brief in the Florida Supreme Court addressing the problems media companies face in false light invasion of privacy litigation when a plaintiff is allowed to avoid the procedural and substantive protections of defamation. Gannett Co. v. Anderson, 947 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006), appeal docketed, No. SC06-2174 (Fla. Nov. 1, 2006). We filed an amicus brief arguing for an exception to the home venue rule that would allow public records petitions for access to Department of Children and Family Service's records to be brought in local jurisdiction. Fla. Dep't of Children & Families v. Sun-Sentinel. Inc., 865 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 2004).

Thomas & LoCicero attorneys are also very active in federal circuit courts of appeals. Our attorneys filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of several prominent media companies stressing the First Amendment ramifications of a district court's order prohibiting the publication of Wind Done Gone, a parody of the novel, Gone with the Wind. Suntrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin Co., 268 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2001). We filed an amicus brief advocating that the First Amendment required the actual malice standard be applied to every alleged false statement in a defamation case. West v. Media General Operations, Inc., 120 Fed. Appx. 601 (6th Cir. Jan. 31, 2005).

Rule-Making

In addition to representing clients in appellate litigation, Thomas & LoCicero lawyers often appear before the Florida Supreme Court on issues related to creating or revising rules of practice and procedure. Recently, we have been instrumental in fighting for rules to ensure that Florida court records are available electronically and for procedural rules that limit, consistent with the Florida Constitution, the instances in which courts can seal judicial records from public view. Our attorneys were instrumental in providing guidance to the Florida Supreme Court on the appropriate standards for closure of court records and dockets. In re Amendments to Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.420 Sealing of Court Records & Dockets, 954 So. 2d 16 (Fla. 2007). Our work in Media General Convergence, Inc. v. Chief Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, 840 So. 2d 1008 (Fla. 2003), actually spurred the Florida Supreme Court to seek input from the Rules of Judicial Administration Committee on how the rules governing access to judicial records should be revised.

To discuss filing an appeal in your case with one of our experienced lawyers, please contact to schedule a consultation.