In Brief

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP's Appellate and Constitutional Litigation practice carries on the tradition of our late partner, former United States District Judge Marvin E. Frankel, one of the leading appellate advocates of the 20th Century. In recent years we have argued well over 50 cases in federal and state appellate courts. More than 20 of our lawyers have clerked for federal and appellate state court judges.

Principal Areas of Focus

Our appellate work involves all areas of corporate securities and commercial practice, as well as antitrust, bankruptcy, copyright, criminal, labor, pension and trademark issues. For example, we represented a major international investment bank in the leading Second Circuit case dealing with the reach of bar orders and contribution claims in securities settlements. On behalf of Liz Claiborne Inc., we gained the affirmance of the dismissal of a securities class action alleging that the company had issued misleading projections. On two separate occasions, we obtained notable victories in the Second Circuit for prominent law firms who had been sued as a result of their representation of clients in SEC investigations.  We successfully defended on appeal the dismissal of market manipulation securities fraud claims against The Citgo Group Limited. We have also litigated a number of major copyright, trademark and false advertising appellate cases. We represented Mills Music, Inc. in a case of first impression before the Supreme Court involving the interpretation of the Copyright Act of 1976.  And we have litigated a number of prominent appeals interpreting the Lanham Act, including L&F Products v. Procter & Gamble, and Sandoz Pharmaceuticals v. Richardson-Vicks, a highly significant case involving the interrelationship between FDA regulation of over the counter drugs and the Lanham Act. Recently in the Ninth Circuit, we represented the successful copyright claimants in a case defining the protectability of a computer game against unauthorized add-on levels for that game in what has emerged as a critical precedent for the publishers of computer and video games. In addition, we perform the full range of appellate work in our extensive, nationally known White Collar Criminal Defense practice.

Our litigators are particularly skilled in handling significant constitutional issues. We are currently co-counsel defending on appeal the New York Supreme Court’s decision recognizing equal marriage rights for same-sex couples under the New York State Constitution.  Other recent representations include our work in the Supreme Court and in the Sixth Circuit on behalf of the American Federation of Teachers in opposition to the Ohio school voucher program; our representation of the Archdiocese of Bridgeport in its appeal on First Amendment and other grounds from a district court decision concluding that the Archdiocese owed fiduciary duties to individual parishioners; our work on behalf of a group of families of victims of the September 11 terrorist attack, seeking together with The New York Times, to obtain the release of 911 tapes, recorded interviews and other information from the City; establishment Clause challenges in the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court to the placing of crèches in public spaces; a successful federal challenge to a state court order restricting a nationwide tender offer on the ground that the order unconstitutionally interfered with interstate commerce; and a Second Circuit case establishing important due process rights for mentally impaired Social Security disability claimants. We have also authored amicus briefs in the Supreme Court and other appellate courts on a wide range of constitutional and statutory issues on behalf of both commercial and pro bono clients.