Appellate Litigation

Athan serves as appellate counsel or consults on civil appeals in Washington state and federal courts, including the Washington State Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals (Division I, II, and III), and the United States Courts of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit. Athan also advises on interlocutory appeals, motions for discretionary review, and/or motions for direct review.

Why hire an appellate lawyer?

Appellate lawyers bring an appellate perspective to cases.
Appellate lawyers know how to bring focus to the issues on appeal, craft briefs and oral arguments that persuade appellate judges, and know how to keep good judgments and how to flip bad rulings.
Although a trial lawyer may have lived with a case for years, appellate lawyers are trained to pour over the whole record from a big-picture perspective. Like the appellate court, we start fresh with the ruling and look backward to find support for affirming the ruling, or to identify where the judge erred so the ruling can be reversed. Appellate lawyers know how to find the procedural error that can win the appeal or the spot in the trial where the opponent waived a crucial issue.

Associating with trial counsel

Trial counsel associate with Athan to help with motions’ practice, including:

Drafting and framing dispositive motions;
Providing persuasive research to resolve unsettled areas of law; and
Establishing trial court record and/or filing motions for reconsideration before appeal.

Oakley v. Domino's Pizza LLC

Oakley v. Domino's Pizza LLC , 23 Wn. App. 2d 218, 222, 516 P.3d 1237 (2022) (Div. I), review denied , 200 Wn.2d 1028, 523 P.3d 1188 (Feb. 8, 2023) (concluding that the arbitration agreement's class Read Article

King Cnty. v. Sorensen

King Cnty. v. Sorensen , 200 Wn.2d 252, 264, 516 P.3d 388 (2022) (dismissing King County's petition for a writ of a mandamus to compel a trial court judge to turn over court reporters' backup Read Article

Schwartz v. King Cnty.

Schwartz v. King Cnty. , 200 Wn.2d 231, 245, 516 P.3d 360 (2022) (reversing summary judgment because Schwartz has presented evidence showing a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the bollard Read Article

Elgiadi v. Washington State Univ. Spokane

Elgiadi v. Washington State Univ. Spokane , 24 Wn.App.2d 261, 263, 519 P.3d 939 (2022) (Div. III), review denied sub nom. Elgiadi v. Washington State Univ. , 1 Wn.2d 1002, 526 P.3d 844 (Apr. 5, 2023 Read Article

Service Employees International Union Local 925 v. Department of Early Learning

Service Employees International Union Local 925 v. Department of Early Learning , 194 Wn.2d 546, 553, 450 P.3d 1181 (2019) (holding that submitting a PRA request does not create a constitutionally Read Article

Kiemle & Hagood Co. v. Daniels

Kiemle Hagood Co. v. Daniels , -- Wn.App -- at *33 (Case No. 38918-9) (April 27, 2023) (Div. III) (finding that trial court prematurely issued final judgment in favor of the landlord after granting Read Article

Eylander v. Prologis

Eylander v. Prologis , 22 Wn. App. 2d 773, 774, 513 P.3d 834 (Div. I) (2022), review granted (December 7, 2022), 200 Wn.2d 1016, 520 P.3d 961 (holding that a landowner satisfies a duty to main Read Article

State v. Conaway

State v. Conaway , 199 Wn.2d 742, 748, 512 P.3d 526 (2022) (holding that a defendant's prior guilty plea to indecent exposure was sufficient to establish that he was previously convicted of that crime Read Article

Matter of EM Prop. Holdings, LLC

Matter of EM Prop. Holdings, LLC, 199 Wn.2d 725, 727, 511 P.3d 1258 (2022) (holding that (1) RCW 60.04.226 applies only in the construction context, (2) common law requires optional future advances to Read Article

Jeoung Lee v. Evergreen Hospital

Jeoung Lee v. Evergreen Hosp. Med. Ctr., 195 Wn.2d 699, 705, 464 P.3d 209 (2020) (holding that employer waives right to enforce arbitration agreement by litigating instead of arbitrating). Slip Read Article

State v. Dennington

State v. Dennington , 12 Wn. App. 2d 845, 858, 460 P.3d 643 (Div. I) (2020) (upholding the right to provide a mitigation statement under RCW 7.21.050(1) when a defendant is summarily charged with Read Article

Washington State Department v. Mullen Trucking

Washington State Dep't of Transp. v. Mullen Trucking 2005, Ltd., 194 Wn.2d 526, 536, 451 P.3d 312 (Div. I) (2019) (holding that Washington's comparative fault statutes do not allow liability to attach Read Article