North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Inman
Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman (“Milberg”) has announced that Lucy Inman has joined the firm in its Raleigh, North Carolina office, where she will focus primarily on appellate cases as Senior Counsel.
Ms. Inman served as a Superior Court judge in North Carolina from 2010 through 2014, presiding in trials and hearings in communities large and small, before winning statewide election to the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Among the thousands of decisions she entered as a Superior Court judge, only seven were reversed on appeal. She served as an appellate judge from 2015 through 2022, hearing more than 1,500 appeals and authoring more than 450 appellate opinions, including decisions on issues of first impression in constitutional, criminal, civil, and administrative law. Less than three percent of her opinions were reversed. Before joining the bench, Ms. Inman practiced civil litigation for 18 years in California and North Carolina and was listed among North Carolina Super Lawyers. She has served in leadership roles in the North Carolina Bar Association and the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys and has actively participated in the Appellate Judges Education Institute.
With the addition of Ms. Inman, Milberg now boasts one of the most impressive appellate benches in North Carolina. She will work alongside board-certified appellate specialists Martha Geer and Mark Sigmon to secure justice for Milberg clients beyond the trial courts. The presence of experienced appellate counsel, however, can improve the chances of a successful appeal.
Milberg Partner Martha Geer was first elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2002 and won reelection in 2010. During her 13-plus year tenure on the Court, Geer heard more than 3,800 appeals, authored more than 1,350 opinions, and had her opinions reversed less than 2% of the time. She has also been certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a specialist in appellate practice. She handles appeals nationwide and has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America in the appellate practice category.
Senior Counsel Mark Sigmon has been practicing law for nearly 20 years and is certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a specialist in appellate practice. He handles appeals in North Carolina courts, federal courts of appeal, and the United States Supreme Court. He has been recognized by Super Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Lawyers of North Carolina, a North Carolina Super Lawyer, and among Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite.
Familiarity with appellate courts, the ability to craft briefs helpful to the appeals process, and knowledge about navigating the appellate system have been demonstrated to provide superior legal representation to appellants.
The authors of a study conducted in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that appellate judges are more receptive to arguments from appellate lawyers. They concluded that, based on their work and prior work on the relationship between litigation history and success, “attorney experience matters in general and attorney experience in appellate work matters in particular.”
Justices from the nation’s highest court have expressed a preference for working with appellate lawyers. Comparing trial lawyers to appellate lawyers, Justice Elena Kagan said that it can be “as if [trial lawyers] are arguing with one hand tied behind their back.” And Justice Sonia Sotomayor has suggested it is “malpractice” for a trial lawyer to argue an appeal when appellate lawyers are available.
When appealing a case, whether at the state or federal level, experience matters. And few North Carolina firms can match the collective appellate bar experience of Inman, Geer, and Sigmon.
Milberg’s roots in North Carolina are wide and deep. Our Raleigh office has over 15 attorneys, led by founding partner Dan Bryson, and Senior Partners Scott Harris and Matt Lee. Dan has practiced in North Carolina for 35 years. He is regularly recognized as one of the Top 25 lawyers in Raleigh and as a North Carolina Legal Elite. Milberg has offices throughout the United States and in Europe.
The other attorneys at the Milberg Raleigh office regularly appear in all federal district courts in North Carolina, as well as in North Carolina’s trial and appellate courts. They have served in numerous leadership positions within the legal community, including the Wake County Bar Association, the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, and the North Carolina Bar Association.
The right of appeal helps to ensure that courts arrive at the correct decision. Clients can continue to have their voice heard when an error of law may have occurred. Clients also need strong advocates to preserve hard-fought victories at the trial level when the other side appeals. Without the right team, an appeal can amount to a coin toss.
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Daniel K. Bryson of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC is responsible for the content of this advertisement and is located at 900 West Morgan Street Raleigh, North Carolina 27603. More information can be found at www.milberg.com. Past results are not guarantees of future results.
