Thomas M. Peterson is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Litigation Practice. Mr. Peterson focuses his practice on appellate litigation of many complex civil matters, including the representation of clients in state and federal appellate courts, and trial court litigation in anticipation of possible appeal. He is co-chair of the firm's national appellate practice.
Mr. Peterson has argued more than 75 appeals before many different appellate courts, state and federal, including in almost every federal circuit court of appeals, including the Federal Circuit. He prepared the appellate briefs in most of those cases, and in several others. He has also prepared numerous amicus curiae briefs on behalf of clients interested in legal issues pending in state and federal appellate courts.
Mr. Peterson mounts high-stakes appeals of adverse pre-trial and post-trial decisions and defends on appeal favorable trial court decisions. He has also sought and obtained interlocutory appellate review of a wide range of rulings for many clients, including adverse summary judgments, class certifications, and discovery orders. Mr. Peterson has argued on behalf of high-tech, healthcare, retail, construction, pharmaceutical, and financial services clients, among others.
Mr. Peterson has been a teaching practitioner-advisor from time to time in the appellate advocacy course at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, whose practitioner-advisors are among the best appellate lawyers in the Bay Area. He is also a member of the American Law Institute.
Mr. Peterson clerked for Judge Cecil Poole of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was first in his class at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Mr. Peterson is admitted to practice in California, before the U.S. Supreme Court, and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Federal circuits. He has handled more than 100 matters in the California courts, as well as matters in other states including Texas, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii.
