Tell us about your top U.S. Supreme Court or federal appeals court victory over the past year and how you and your team achieved the win.

Last term, we won two cases 9-0 at the U.S. Supreme Court: U.S. Bank National Association v. Village at Lakeridge and Lagos v. United States. These wins topped off a three-term run where three different Stris & Maher partners argued eight cases before the court, winning half of them.

Ultimately, what I'm most proud of isn't the wins themselves; it's our incredible appellate team. Take Doug Geyser as just one example. In the last year, he was a principal drafter of two winning Supreme Court briefs. He briefed and argued significant Ninth Circuit antitrust (VidAngel, Inc. v. Disney Enterprises, Inc.) and bankruptcy (Hunsaker v. United States) appeals. And he's currently leading the briefing on a copyright case I'm arguing later this Term: Fourth Estate v. Wall-street.com.

How did your firm approach appellate success over the past year?

We leveraged our fourteen-attorney firm's extremely deep bench. This year, eight different Stris & Maher lawyers argued, or are currently preparing to argue, at least one significant business appeal before the United States Supreme Court, a federal circuit court, or a state Supreme Court.

What practice advice would you give your younger self?

The old adage “there's no 'I' in 'team'” applies to lawyers too. Don't try to do everything yourself. You'll eventually figure this out, but you'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you figure it out sooner. Oh, and remember to sleep before oral argument.

Responses submitted by Peter K. Stris, a founding partner of Stris & Maher.