Federal Appeals and Motions Practice in U.S. Circuit Courts

Ms. Voigts has worked on cases before the United States Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and federal and state appellate and trial courts. A former Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit clerk, she has argued nearly 60 cases in federal and state appellate courts, more than 50 of which were in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A former federal prosecutor with over a decade of public service in the Central and Northern District of California, Ms. Voigts has nearly twenty years of experience handling appeals and critical motions practice and routinely advises trial teams on complex legal issues in a wide range of cases. She has worked, inter alia, on cases involving antitrust law, class actions, contractual disputes, preemption issues, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the False Claims Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, copyright, and constitutional and statutory interpretation. In the class action context, Ms. Voigts has successfully petitioned for appellate review under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f) and regularly consults on critical motions practice on class actions in the trial and district court.

M.C. Sungaila is the leader of Buchalter’s Appellate practice. Ms. Sungaila is a highly regarded appellate attorney who has briefed and argued appeals raising cutting-edge and fundamental business issues for over two decades. Her work has helped shape undeveloped areas of the law in constitutional law, employment, franchisor liability, product liability, class actions, probate, immigration, Holocaust art recovery, and human rights. She crafts creative approaches to clients’ emerging legal issues and provides pretrial consultations in cases where an appeal by either side appears inevitable.

Chambers USA reports that clients describe her as “a phenomenal writer,” “an excellent strategist,” and a “gifted appellate lawyer who consistently delivers bottom line results.” Clients praise her “great practical sense,” “laser” focus on key issues, “excellence in creative thinking,” “deep local knowledge of the California Supreme Court, as well as other appellate venues,” and her ability to “advise on the business side just as well as she does on the legal side.” She has been recognized for over a decade by the Daily Journal as one of California’s 100 Leading Women Lawyers, and as one of the state’s Top Labor & Employment Lawyers.

Ms. Lerman (“Rachel”) is General Counsel and Vice Chair of LDB and a member of its Board of Directors.  Before Joining LDB as Senior Counsel in July 2021, she was a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, where she co-chaired the firm’s national appellate practice group. Her practice focused on appellate law and trial strategy in complex civil cases in state and federal courts nationwide. Ms. Lerman is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee of the LA County Bar Association. Before joining Barnes & Thornburg LLP, she was a partner at the firm of Akin Gump LLP. After completing her degrees at Yale (BA) and Berkeley School of Law (JD), she served as law clerk to the late Hon. T. G. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. For over twenty years, she has done pro bono work on behalf of refugees and non-profit organizations, winning recognition from such groups as Public Counsel, the Harvard Immigration Law Clinic, and the ACLU.