Appellate Lawyers at Trial: Don’t Wait Until Your Ox is in the Ditch with Jeff Doss

Concepts: Trial, Criminal Defense, Civil Litigation, Appeals

Whopping jury verdicts from 2024 illustrate why trial teams sometimes include appellate counsel, because including them — even as you prepare to defend a high stakes case at trial — can improve your chances on appeal should a jury hand you a half-billion-dollar verdict.

But what functions do appellate attorneys perform at trial? Are they listening for errors or proactively guiding trial counsel? Do they ever address the court or sit quietly at the defense table or maybe in the back row?

To answer these questions and more is Jeffrey P. Doss, a partner in the White-Collar Criminal Defense & Corporate Investigations practice group at Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC, a civil defense litigation firm. Jeff has served as appellate counsel for an automobile manufacturer for 10 years. In this role, he has supported trial teams pre-trial, at trial, and post-verdict through appeal. Jeff has developed and implemented strategies to address a range of legal issues, from jury selection errors to expert exclusions, evidentiary objections, and post-verdict challenges to punitive damages awards.

Thanks to Jeff for taking the time to share his insights on this, and for entertaining my curiosity about the efficacy of beards in the practice of law.

I hope you enjoy the conversation! If so, give us a rating!

If you have comments, ideas, or wish to participate, please drop me a note at Editor@LitigationConferences.com.

Tom Hagy
Litigation Enthusiast and
Host of the Emerging Litigation Podcast
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Jeffrey P. Doss
Jeffrey P. DossPartner, Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC
Jeff focuses his practice on trial advocacy in the areas of white-collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation. In addition to conducting internal investigations for private and public entities, he has defended businesses and individuals in connection with grand jury investigations, administrative enforcement proceedings and criminal prosecutions at the trial and appellate levels.

For nearly a decade, Jeff has served as appellate counsel for an automobile manufacturer. In that capacity, he has aided trial teams pre-trial, at trial, and post-verdict through appeal. As appellate counsel, Jeff has developed and implemented strategies to address a myriad of legal issues, from errors in jury selection to exclusions of experts to evidentiary objections to post-verdict challenges to punitive damages awards. Jeff received his J.D., cum laude from Samford University, Cumberland School of Law.

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