APPELLATE ADVOCACY
An AV® Preeminent™ peer review-rated attorney, Rob routinely appears in complex business, constitutional and public law disputes pending in the federal and state appellate courts. He has argued most recently in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Arizona Supreme Court and the Arizona Court of Appeals. He also is licensed to practice in all of New York's appellate courts, in the U.S. Supreme Court and in the Second and Fifth Circuits. He handles a wide variety of proceedings in the appellate courts, including appeals of final judgments, appeals of preliminary injunctions and other interlocutory decrees, petitions for writs of certiorari and mandamus, certified questions, appellate motion practice, and the representation of amici curiae.
As a special value-added service, Rob also undertakes engagements as appellate counselor-in-residence. In that capacity he works closely and collaboratively with litigators to optimize their cases for trial or appeal. While the functions Rob serves will differ in each case, he often plays a central role in formulating the theme(s) of the case, in composing dispositive motions, in crafting jury instructions, and in handling a wide variety of other trial court level projects designed either to induce the other side to settle on favorable terms, if that is the goal, or otherwise to increase the probability of victory at trial and on appeal.
COMPLEX LITIGATION
Rob has substantial experience handling virtually every facet of civil trial practice in the federal and state trial courts, including the representation of clients in bet-the-company disputes involving fraud claims, antitrust claims, RICO claims, claims arising in "rogue" employee cases, statutory tort claims, negligent misrepresentation claims, interference with business relations, defamation, unfair competition, false advertising and trademark infringement claims, as well as shareholder disputes, claims of breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of private and public contracts, unjust enrichment, fraudulent conveyance, and construction design defects.
Rob is well aware that clients are rarely enthusiastic about litigation. He therefore places great emphasis on the deployment of forceful, dispositive pre-trial motions to bring the case to an end if it cannot sooner be settled. But sometimes a case will wind its way to trial. When it does, Rob is always ready. With his prior firm, he co-chaired a two-week false advertising jury trial as recently as May 2010, resulting in victory. He co-chaired a three-and-a-half week jury trial of a distribution agreement dispute just months earlier, scoring a unanimous verdict for the client. He was involved in numerous federal court trials while practicing in New York as well.
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
Rob has deep experience with constitutional issues and other issues of public law, including the due process implications of excessive punitive damages awards, the doctrines of state and tribal sovereign immunity, separation of powers, separation of church and state, Arizona's notice of claim statutes and public servant insurance/indemnity statutes, Arizona's procurement statutes, Arizona's statutory regime governing sales and leases of state trust lands, matters of federal preemption of state law and matters of federal court jurisdiction.
PHILOSOPHY OF PRACTICE
The formula for a truly extraordinary appellate and complex commercial litigation practice will differ for each person, but there is at least one critical lesson that one easily can draw from experience. It is the recognition that working 24/7 in the suffocating confines of a sterile office environment while paralyzed with fear that one might still somehow fail to bill enough hours to satisfy the demands of law firm management is antithetical to one's professional development and incompatible with the delivery of exemplary appellate and complex litigation services. Rob strongly believes that appellate advocates and trial court litigators, like most artists, can enhance their effectiveness only by wrapping their professional endeavors in a rich tapestry of personal relationships and intellectual, philanthropic, cultural and spiritual pursuits. Mandel Young plc is the embodiment of that philosophy.
PRIOR EXPERIENCE
Shareholder, National Appellate and Litigation Practice Groups; Phoenix Appellate Team Leader - Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Attorney, Litigation Department - Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman LLP (now Cooley Godward LLP)
Attorney, Litigation Department - Proskauer Rose LLP
HONORS & AWARDS
Martindale Hubbell, AV® Preeminent™
Selectee, Southwest Super Lawyers 2014 List
Selectee, Arizona's Finest Lawyers 2013-present
Member, Law360 2010 Appellate Practice Group of the Year
Recommended, PLC Which Lawyer? 2008-2012
AZ Business Magazine, Arizona's Best Lawyers, 2009-2010
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