Two years ago, in a column I wrote for this newspaper, I raised the issue as to whether the trial lawyer was a dying breed. I came to the conclusion that in this era of alternative dispute resolutions, fewer and fewer trial lawyers were being trained or given the opportunity to try cases. This continues to be a major problem.

Today I pose the same question regarding the appellate lawyer. Judge Maureen Lally Green, former member of the Pennsylvania Superior Court, said, appellate lawyers are not a dying breed, but there are not enough lawyers who concentrate their practices in this area, and not enough firms that have an appellate group or person who concentrate on appellate practice.