Top best Appeals Lawyers in Houston | 30 available

Since 1995, I have tried 60 criminal defense jury trials with zero final convictions.  I am fortunate to be in practice with Clay S.Conrad, as well as Wade B. Smith and Matthew J. Hefti.. I am an avid golfer and a cigar aficionado, and enjoy spending time with friends, my daughter and granddaughter.

Scott D. Smith is a highly accomplished trial and arbitration attorney with more than two decades of experience representing clients in complex litigation and regulatory matters. His practice focuses on business and commercial disputes, including breach of contract, fraud, tortious interference, trade secret misappropriation, and employment-related issues such as non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. Scott has extensive experience in the financial services industry, representing firms and advisors in litigation, arbitration, and regulatory proceedings across the country. He has successfully argued appeals in both the New York State Appellate Division and the Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals. In addition to his litigation skills, Scott is well-versed in probate matters, representing estates and heirs in fiduciary disputes and property misappropriation claims. Known for his strategic approach and results-driven advocacy, Scott has earned an AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell and the Platinum Client Champion designation. He is an active member of the legal community, holding leadership positions in the Houston Bar Association and participating in various professional organizations. Scott’s dedication to his clients and his ability to navigate complex legal challenges make him a trusted advocate in high-stakes cases.

Our clients are well-informed every step of the way as we take a surgical approach to solve a problem or otherwise attain a favorable outcome.

Mr. Hogan is one of fewer than 30 attorneys who are triple board-certified in civil appellate law, civil trial law, and personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. With those specializations, he is often called on to lend his expertise to trial teams as the "Lawyer's Lawyer." When hired as part of a trial team, he addresses preservation of error issues and argues directed-verdict motions, expert-witness challenges, bills of exception, and motions to exclude evidence. An example is his engagement by a construction-service client, for whom Mr. Hogan helped obtain a $98.8 million judgment in a business disparagement case, arguing evidentiary points, directed verdicts, and preparing the jury charge at trial.. As an appellate lawyer, Mr. Hogan has argued a civil RICO case in the United States Supreme Court, and he regularly practices before the Texas Supreme Court. The issues in these cases have been broad ranging-from environmental disputes, probate matters, complex procedural fights, governmental immunity challenges, insurance coverage and default judgments, as well as malpractice and personal injury cases. Mr. Hogan served as part of the winning appellate team hired to overturn a $454 million verdict in a tortious interference case. In 2006, Mr. Hogan won two cases in the Texas Supreme Court-one for a plaintiff and one for a defendant. His firm has argued two appeals in the Texas Supreme Court since January 2009, winning both cases. Along with his extensive practice before the Texas Supreme Court, Mr. Hogan has appeared as counsel before all fourteen Texas courts of appeals and in three federal circuit courts of appeals.. Mr. Hogan has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America. (Woodward/White, Inc.). He has been named a Texas Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers (a Thomson Reuters business) every year since 2003. In law school, Mr. Hogan was a national and Texas State Bar moot court champion at an academic institution that has been ranked first in the nation for advocacy training by U.S. News & World Report. After law school, he clerked for the Texas Supreme Court. From June 2005 through April 2007, he was a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where he was the litigation section leader in Houston and national appellate practice team co-leader.. Before law school, Mr. Hogan worked in the inner city with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. He since has served as Board Chair of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps-South, a nonprofit that places recent college graduates in work with refugees, people with AIDS, the elderly, street youth, the mentally ill and developmentally disabled in six states across the South. He served as a founding board member of the Jesuit Volunteers, Inc., national consolidation of the regional Jesuit volunteer organizations.

Mr. Hefti practices criminal defense at the firm of Looney Smith Conrad & Hefti P.C. He handles criminal defense cases at all levels, everything from misdemeanors to murders. Mr. Hefti handles trials, appeals, and writs of habeas corpus in Texas state courts and in federal courts. Regardless of the size of the case or seriousness of the charges, the attorneys at Looney Smith Conrad & Hefti P.C. believe it's important to take a team-based approach to representation to ensure their clients get the best holistic service possible, uniquely tailored to suit their objectives and goals at each step.

Matthew Ploeger is dedicated to serving Sutliff & Stout’s clients with diligence, skill, and commitment. He enjoys the intellectual challenges, but even more importantly, finds great satisfaction in helping people understand and navigate the legal system and championing them in the courts.. ————. Matthew Ploeger began his legal career serving as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Nathan L. Hecht, the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He then joined the appellate practice group at a major law firm, where, for over ten years, he handled all manner of appeals and worked closely with trial teams, providing crucial support by handling summary judgments and other pre-trial motions, jury charges, and post-verdict motions. With this experience, Matthew opened his own appellate law practice.. As his educational background indicates, Matthew has long been interested in law and the ways we resolve disputes. Before attending law school at Stanford, Matthew studied sociology of law and criminology at the University of Texas, ultimately earning a Ph.D. Throughout his time at UT, Matthew had the privilege of being the research assistant for the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, with Professors Teresa Sullivan, Jay Westbrook, and (now Senator) Elizabeth Warren.. Throughout all of this study and practice, Matthew’s love of the law has never waned. He continues to enjoy the intellectual challenges, but even more importantly, finds great satisfaction in helping people understand and navigate the legal system and championing them in the courts. He is dedicated to serving Sutliff & Stout’s clients with diligence, skill, and commitment. In 2021, Matthew was honored as a Super Lawyer.

I am a native Houstonian, dedicated to defending the rights of the citizen accused. I have never worked for law enforcement, and I have never worked for the District Attorneys Office. The reason for that is simple: my passion flows only one way, and that is to defend those citizens accused of crimes.. I'm Board Certified in Criminal Defense, and there is no one more equipped to handle your trial, your appeal, or your post-conviction case. I understand people.  I understand the law. And I'm willing to fight either one, to protect you.

Doug Durham began practicing Law in May of 1980 as an Assistant District Attorney in Harris County, Texas. He worked his way up through the ranks of the District Attorney’s Office to the position of “Chief Prosecutor” in the 228th District Court (Judge Ted Poe presiding) and the 183rd District Court (Judge Joseph M. Guarino presiding). During his tenure with the office he tried over fifty cases to jury verdicts, including capital murder cases. Doug left the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in June of 1986  for private practice.        Doug has been recognized as having special competence in the area of Criminal Law and  Criminal Appeals (since 1986) by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Doug is admitted to practice in federal court in the Southern, Eastern  and Western Districts of Texas; the Eastern District of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and United States Supreme Court. He has tried over one hundred cases to jury verdict and authored over one hundred Criminal Briefs filed in the First, Third, Thirteen, and Fourteenth Texas Courts of Appeal, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, United States Court of Appeals – Fifth Circuit and United States Supreme Court (Petition for Writ of Certiorari).. He was elected to the Board of the Harris County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in 1987-88 and remains a current member of the Harris County, Texas, and National Associations of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In August of 1991, Doug joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. From 1991-94 he was a member of the financial institution fraud section where he prosecuted several high profile bank fraud cases. From 1994-97, he served as “Chief of the Economic Crimes Section” where he supervised 34 lawyers. In 1997 he served for a short period as “Chief of the Criminal Division.”  During the same period, he was a member of Attorney General Janet Reno’s National health care fraud working group. He was a member of the Department of Justice’s self-audit team and participated in the United States Attorney Office evaluation for the District of Connecticut and the Eastern District of Virginia.. In March of 1997 Doug left the federal government an re-entered private practice. Doug has addressed health care and criminal law issues before various groups, including: The Texas Criminal Lawyer’s Association, The University of Texas School of Law Tenth Annual Health Law Conference and the Houston Baptist University Masters Program in Public Health.      Doug has represented individuals and Fortune 500 corporations who have come under the scrutiny of the government in industries as diverse as private prison management, health care, banking, securities fraud, energy, manufacturing and hazardous waste management.. A representative sample of corporate clients include Auto Zone, CEC, General Electric, Phillips Petroleum, Memorial Hermann Hospital, Terra Renewal, Sunbelt Rentals, and Moon Credit Corporation. Doug’s primary office is located in the Williams Tower in the Galleria area of Houston.. He is available to meet clients in downtown Houston at the Bank of America Center, and in offices in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Washington D.C., New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tyson Corner, Virginia.

Aaron M. Reimer is a partner at Jenkins Kamin LLP, based in Houston, Texas. Certified as a specialist in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2018, he focuses his practice exclusively on that part of the law, providing astute representation to clients throughout the greater metropolitan area. Admitted to practice before all Texas state courts, Mr. Reimer has earned the respect of his fellow professionals for both his successful track record and his ethical approach to what are often emotional and contentious matters, and this is reflected in his receipt of a "Superb" peer review rating through Avvo.. The majority of Mr. Reimer's practice involves the representation of people whose marriages are ending and who are thus having to deal with such divorce-related issues as the division of complex assets and debts, child custody and visitation, and spousal and child support. A forceful courtroom advocate when necessary, his experience with negotiations, mediation, and arbitration often allows him to help his clients come to an agreement on some of these matters through the use of those alternative dispute resolution methods. Mr. Reimer also handles appeals of family court decisions, and his other work has included the preparation and review of prenuptial and post-marital agreements.. Mr. Reimer pursued his undergraduate education at Dallas Christian College, and in 2002 he received a Bachelor of Science cum laude in theology and psychology. After working in the private sector, he enrolled at South Texas College of Law Houston and was awarded his Juris Doctor in 2007. Mr. Reimer also holds an LL.M. in taxation from the University of Houston Law Center, and this knowledge can be helpful when analyzing and negotiating property division agreements. His professional affiliations include membership in the Family Law Section of the Houston Bar Association.

Experienced Appeals attorney serving clients in Houston and surrounding areas.

Experienced Appeals attorney serving clients in Houston and surrounding areas.

Experienced Appeals attorney serving clients in Houston and surrounding areas.

Experienced Appeals attorney serving clients in Houston and surrounding areas.

Experienced Appeals attorney serving clients in Houston and surrounding areas.

Experienced Appeals attorney serving clients in Houston and surrounding areas.

Experienced Appeals attorney serving clients in Houston and surrounding areas.

Experienced Appeals attorney serving clients in Houston and surrounding areas.

Experienced Appeals attorney serving clients in Houston and surrounding areas.