Appeals require a different set of skills than trial work. The issues have been framed, the record is fixed, and success depends on identifying the legal arguments most likely to persuade appellate judges, then presenting them with precision, clarity, and an understanding that judges do not all think the same way.
Maceira Zayas (MZLS) maintains a dedicated appellate practice handling appeals, certiorari petitions, and extraordinary writs before the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and other federal appellate courts.
The appellate team includes Hon. Edgardo Rivera García, a former Associate Justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court and the practice's leader, together with Mabel Sotomayor and Mariola Abreu Acevedo, who served in the Office of the Solicitor General, the office that represents the Commonwealth in its most important appellate matters, and who clerked for appellate and Supreme Court judges. The team argues before courts its members once served.
The firm handles appeals arising from commercial litigation, administrative proceedings, government contracts disputes, regulatory matters, constitutional challenges, and other complex civil cases. It also provides appellate consultation to trial counsel: shaping the record, preserving issues, and developing appellate strategy from the outset of litigation.
Effective appellate advocacy begins with case assessment. Not every adverse ruling warrants an appeal, and not every appealable issue offers a realistic path to reversal. The firm gives clients a candid evaluation of appellate prospects and concentrates resources where appellate intervention can change the outcome.
The following are select highlights from our appellate practice:
