Marshall Dennehey’s Appellate Advocacy & Post-Trial Practice Group is one of the largest and most accomplished appellate practice groups in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Firmwide, the group’s nine lawyers have more than 120 years of combined experience handling post-trial motions and appeals. Dedicated to the craft of written and oral appellate advocacy, our appellate attorneys respond to clients’ post-trial needs and challenges throughout Pennsylvania and the five additional states where we maintain offices.

    We have represented parties in litigation stemming from the Jerry Sandusky child abuse prosecution, the Market Street building collapse in Center City, Philadelphia that killed six people and injured more than a dozen others, the fatal shooting of employees at a Kraft Foods plant in Philadelphia, and numerous other cases that resulted in seven-figure, eight-figure, and nine-figure civil verdicts. In many of these high-exposure cases, our attorneys served as appellate counsel during trial to ensure that important legal issues had been properly raised and preserved for post-trial motions and appeals.

    The practice group, which was selected as the “Litigation Department of the Year” for Appellate Law by The Legal Intelligencer in 2024 and 2016, is led by seasoned appellate practitioner John J. Hare. John has represented individuals, insurers and corporations in some of the most high-profile litigation in recent Pennsylvania history, including dozens of cases with verdicts and settlements in excess of $10 million. As litigation and amicus curiae counsel, John has represented a diverse clientele, including leading corporations and insurers, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the Pennsylvania Defense Institute, the Pennsylvania Medical Society, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and academics interested in the outcome of appellate litigation. 

    The appellate team routinely engages in so-called trial monitoring, which involves actively assisting trial teams during high exposure trials to ensure that important legal issues are developed, presented, and preserved for post-trial and appellate review if necessary.  This assistance includes direct participation in trials by arguing motions, involvement in court conferences, and handling other “legal” matters that arise during trial.  Trial monitoring also includes drafting trial motions and briefs, providing strategic legal research and analysis of complex and first-impression issues, and assisting trial counsel in developing effective trial strategies and tactics.

    To enhance their skills and the relationship between the appellate courts and appellate practitioners, the attorneys in this group are active members of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Post-Trial and Appellate Practice Committee; Philadelphia Bar Association’s Appellate Courts Committee; Florida Bar Appellate Practice Section; The American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and more.

    Hare_John
    John J. Hare, Chair
    Craig Hudson
    Craig S. Hudson,
    Additional contact