Attorneys representing a Boston recruiting firm on the hook for $7.7 million to a competitor firm filed an federal appeal this week after the district judge overseeing the case denied various motions seeking to change the outcome in favor of their client.

Just over a year ago, a jury found the defendants, Catapult Staffing, and the managing director of its Boston office, Andrew Dickhaut, liable for $312,000 for misappropriating trade secrets from BioPoint, Massachusetts-based life sciences staffing company.