Courthouse, Illinois Appellate Court 5th District, Mt. Vernon
Appeals and Trial Consulting
Edward ("Ted") Kionka's legal career has combined law school teaching, legal research and writing for publication, and the practice of law. Currently, his law practice is limited to appeals and trial consulting. Most of his cases are referred from other attorneys. Sometimes he will work as a member of a trial or appellate team; in other cases he is asked to take full responsibility for an appeal, returning the case to the trial attorney or firm when the appeal is concluded. He has been sole or lead counsel on appeal in several hundred appeals. At the trial level, he has prepared pleadings, motions, legal memos, jury instructions, and post-trial documents. He has often appeared before trial court judges to present these, and occasionally conducted evidentiary hearings. He has argued hundreds of times before reviewing courts.
Why retain an appellate lawyer?
Appellate practice has become recognized as a separate field of specialization. There are organizations of appellate lawyers at the national and state levels. Lawyers realize that there are special skills and knowledge involved in writing briefs and other similar documents and in presenting persuasive written and oral arguments to trial and appellate court judges. Lawyers who have substantial experience in appellate litigation are familiar with the appellate rules and techniques and bring that experience to the service of their clients. Appellate lawyers typically keep up with developments in their field and attend conferences and seminars to enhance their appellate skills and knowledge. Most other lawyers, even litigators, handle very few appeals during their careers, and therefore increasingly look to appellate specialists to assist with important cases on appeal.