Attorneys for former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver have started the appeals process to throw out his conviction and seven-year prison sentence for federal corruption charges.

Michael Feldberg, a partner at Allen & Overy in Manhattan representing Silver, filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit this week.

Silver, a Democrat, was convicted on seven counts of federal corruption in May for accepting millions in referral fees from two law firms with business before the state. It was his second conviction on the matter.

His previous conviction was thrown out by an appeals court in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's McDonnell v. United States decision, which narrowed key elements to prove bribery cases. Silver's sentence before U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York fared better the second time around. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison after his first conviction. Caproni knocked that down to seven after the second trial.

Silver pledged to appeal the jury's decision in May immediately after his second conviction was handed down.

“I feel confident in my attorneys. Obviously I'm obviously disappointed at this point,” Silver said at the time. “I'm very confident that the judicial process will play out in my favor.”

Feldberg did not respond to an inquiry on how his legal strategy would change on appeal to better favor Silver.

A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, whose office prosecuted Silver's second trial, said their future submissions will speak for themselves.

Silver was accused of taking millions in bribes and kickbacks from two law firms that benefited from his position as Assembly speaker, one of the most powerful positions in state government. He was paid nearly $4 million by the firms, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Silver was paid referral fees for asbestos-induced mesothelioma cancer cases from Weitz & Luxenberg, a personal injury firm in Manhattan. They claimed Silver traded the referrals from a doctor at Columbia University for state research funding.

Silver was also paid referral fees from Goldberg & Iryami, a property tax law firm, for referring two real estate companies while urging lawmakers to approve legislation that would benefit those developers, prosecutors said.

The charges against Silver were initially brought by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in 2015. The announcement, which came at the start of that year's legislative session, set off a string of various corruption charges related to state government.

Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a Republican, was charged months later in 2015 with securing low- or no-show jobs at companies with business before the legislature. Skelos and his son were convicted in July.

More than a year later, Bharara announced charges against Joseph Percoco, a former close aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, former SUNY Polytechnic president Alain Kaloyeros, executives at upstate development companies, and a lobbyist. The defendants were charged with arranging various bid-rigging and fraud schemes.

Percoco and Kaloyeros were both found guilty in the schemes, but have yet to be sentenced.

Silver is scheduled to surrender on Oct. 5, 2018. Feldberg has filed to continue bail pending the outcome of an appeal.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Richenthal and Damian Williams, from the office's Public Corruption Unit, prosecuted the case.