Appellate
McLane Middleton’s trial lawyers are known throughout New England as talented trial advocates for our clients. Our lawyers are also recognized as accomplished appellate advocates. Our appellate lawyers have been involved in some of the most significant appeals before the New Hampshire Supreme Court and are regularly called on to handle highly sophisticated appeals.
Our appellate attorneys represent clients in:
- New Hampshire Supreme Court
- Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts
- Appellate Division for the State of New York.
- United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Two of our lawyers have argued cases in the Supreme Court of the United States.
Our appellate work encompasses many substantive areas including appeals in commercial cases, administrative and constitutional matters, and cases involving issues, energy and energy facility siting, employment, environmental law, products liability, and medical malpractice.
Our appellate team includes lawyers who have individually handled dozens of appeals in the New Hampshire Supreme Court, who have been named New Hampshire’s best appellate lawyer, and who are Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Representative Appellate Cases:
- Brown v. Saint Gobain Plastics Corp. 174 N.H. 641 (2023) Appeal on a certified question in a class action from the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire holding that New Hampshire did not recognize remedy or cause of action for costs of medical monitoring due to increased risk of future disease, due to alleged exposure to toxic chemicals.
- Petition of New Hampshire Division Children Youth and Families 175 N.H. 596 (2023). Appeal concerning the tolling of the statute of limitations for minors.
- Appeal of Conservation Law Foundation, 174 N.H. 59 (2021) Appeal upholding a decision of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services granting a landfill permit.
- Boyle v. City of Portsmouth, 172 N.H.781 (2020). Appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court of a $3,500,000 verdict plaintiff obtained against the city. Represented the city in the appeal resulting in reversal of the verdict and remand for new trial of damages.
- Appeal of Northern Pass Transmission, LLC, 172 N.H. 385, 214 A.3rd 590 (2019). Appeal in the New Hampshire Supreme Court from a decision of the New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee involving the construction of a 192-mile power line by Northern Pass Transmission LLC and Public Service Company of New Hampshire d/b/a Eversource Energy LLC.
- Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Town of Hanover, et al. 171 N.H. 497 (2018). Appeal from Superior Court decision upholding planning board denial of building permit for major college sports facility in a properly zoned athletic complex.
- Petition for Approval of Gas Infrastructure Project with Algonquin Gas Transmission, LLC, 170 N.H. 763 (2018). Successful representation of Eversource Energy d/b/a Public Service Company of New Hampshire in an appeal from an order of the Public Utilities Commission denying the application of PSNH to enter into a contract to purchase gas pipeline capacity from Algonquin.
- State of New Hampshire v. Actavis Pharma et al. 170 N.H. 211 (2017). Represented Endo Pharmaceuticals in an appeal challenging the ability of the state to retain contingency fee counsel in an investigation into marketing practices by pharmaceutical companies.
- Sullivan v. KeySpan, 155 A.D.3d 804, 64 N.Y.S.3d 82 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017). Represented KeySpan in affirming dismissal on statute of limitations grounds of approximately 80 property owners alleging subsurface contamination for former manufactured gas plant.
- City of Rochester v. Marcel Payeur, Inc., 169 N.H. 502 (2016). Successfully affirmed trial court’s grant of motion to dismiss from litigation based on statute of limitations. On issue of first impression, Supreme Court held that doctrine of Nullum Tempus Occurrit Regi (“time does not run against the king”) does not apply to municipalities in contract actions.
- Finn v. Ballentine Partners, LLC., 169 N.H. 128 (2016). Represented Ballentine Partners in sustaining a Superior Court order overturning an arbitration award and against an argument of preemption under the Federal Arbitration Act.
- Deere and Company v. State 168 N.H. 460 (2015). Served as appellate counsel for Husqvarna Group, an equipment manufacturer, challenging statutory modifications to New Hampshire’s Dealer Bill of Rights Statute governing the relationship between national equipment manufacturers and local equipment distributors.
- Cardigan Mountain School v. N.H. Insurance Co., 787 F. 3d. 82 (1st Cir. 2015) Representation of the Cardigan Mountain School in an appeal establishing that the school could seek to prove and enforce the terms of an insurance policy issued fifty years earlier in the absence of the policy itself.
- Lawrence v. Philip Morris USA, 162 N.H. 93 (2012). Successfully reversed trial court decision certifying a class consisting of “all individuals who purchased Marlboro Lights Cigarettes in New Hampshire” after 1997.
- Anderson v. BNY Mellon, 463 Mass. 299 (Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts 2012) Successful constitutional challenge to a Massachusetts statute retroactively redefining the meaning of “child” for purposes of instruments of inheritance.
- Merrimack Valley Wood Products v. Near, 152 N.H. 192 (2005) (finding noncompete provision that prohibited defendant from soliciting customers unreasonable).
