Virginia Hinrichs McMichael is the founder and managing attorney of Appellate Law Group LLC, a woman-owned appellate law boutique that represents clients in appeals in the state and federal courts in Pennsylvania. Ms. McMichael has over 30 years of experience in litigation and appellate law. She is a former partner and Chair of the Appellate Practice Group at Dilworth Paxson LLP. Before joining Dilworth Paxson, she was an attorney-advisor at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and an associate at Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin and Associates, a family law boutique in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Ms. McMichael has successfully represented clients in complex national and international cases in the state and federal appellate courts in a variety of substantive areas of law, including bankruptcy, civil rights, commercial litigation, constitutional law, family law, international, medical malpractice, municipal, products liability, real estate, and trusts and estates. She has a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, where she was a Senior Editor of the Texas International Law Journal, and an A.B. with High Honors from Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont. She is a Founding Board Member and Chair of the Regional Council Committee of Women Owned Law, a national organization dedicated to connecting and advancing women entrepreneurs in the law. Ms. McMichael served for fifteen years on the Board of Supervisors of East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania, a township with over 10,000 residents that is the home of the Great Valley Corporate Center, one of the largest suburban office complexes in the country. She is admitted to practice in the state courts of Pennsylvania. Ms. Michael is also admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the Third and Second Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the ABA Council of Appellate Lawyers, the Pennsylvania Bar Association Appellate Advocacy Committee, and the Philadelphia Bar Association Appellate Law and International Law Committees. Ms. McMichael has an AV pre-eminent peer-review rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and a “Superb” rating from Avvo. She is fluent in Spanish and French. For more information, see www.appellatelawpa.com. Ms. McMichael can be reached at vmcmichael@appellatelawpa.com.

Mr. Kirkpatrick is a Senior Deputy Attorney General in the Appellate Litigation Section of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Mr. Kirkpatrick has worked for the Office for over 15 years, with the past ten years focused exclusively on appellate practice. Mr. Kirkpatrick has argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Commonwealth Court, the Superior Court, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals numerous times. He also has a robust practice before the United States Supreme Court, including successfully obtaining the reversal of a Third Circuit decision and defeating the myriad challenges to the outcome of the 2020 General Election. Mr. Kirkpatrick is co-author of West’s Pennsylvania Appellate Practice, beginning with the upcoming 2023-2024 edition. Prior to joining the Office of Attorney General, Mr. Kirkpatrick clerked for Judge Yvette Kane of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and was an associate at White and Williams LLP

Mr. Myers is Co-Chair of the Appellate Practice Group at Stevens & Lee in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. He has two decades of experience arguing and briefing a wide variety of precedent-setting and high stakes appeals before the appellate courts of Pennsylvania and other jurisdictions. Mr. Myers maintains a particular focus on cases before the Pennsylvania Supreme, Commonwealth, and Superior Courts, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. His arguments often appear on the Pennsylvania Cable Network and in various legal publications, which seek him out as an appellate commentator. Mr. Myers often serves as a panelist and moderator for appellate practice presentations and continuing legal education seminars. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Appellate Advocacy Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, is a Past Chair of the Administrative Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and is an active member of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Historical Society. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Third Circuit Bar Association. Mr. Myers also serves on the Board of Directors and as Pennsylvania State Chair for the Council of Appellate Lawyers of the American Bar Association’s Appellate Judges Conference. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Russell M. Nigro of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania after receiving his law degree, cum laude, from the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law. During law school, Mr. Myers served as a clerk for the Honorable John T.J. Kelly Jr. of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the Honorable Yvette Kane of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and was selected for the Appellate Moot Court Board, Dickinson Law Review, and Woolsack Honor Society. 

John is a shareholder and appellate chair at Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, which has more than five hundred attorneys based in nineteen offices in seven states.  He oversees a group of ten full-time appellate lawyers.  As litigation and amicus counsel, he has been involved in hundreds of appeals in state and federal appellate courts.  He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, serves as chair of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee, and formerly served on the Board of Governors of the Bar Association of the Third Federal Circuit and as co-chair of the amicus curiae committee of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute.  John also regularly writes and speaks on appellate topics and has edited and co-authored two books on Pennsylvania appellate courts. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; Life and Law in the Commonwealth, 1684-2017, was published by the Pennsylvania State University Press in 2018.  Keystone of Justice: The Pennsylvania Superior Court, 1895-1995, was published by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2000.  He received his B.A. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Duquesne University. He also received an M.A. in Legal History from the University of California, Berkeley, and he completed Ph.D. coursework in Legal History at Princeton University.

Mr. Becker is an attorney at Kline & Specter, P.C., where he has primary responsibility for the firm’s post-trial and appellate practice. He also works with firm lawyers on numerous issues as they arise in the firm’s cases, including case and claim selection, venue and dispositive motions, in limine motions, trial strategy, and settlement. Mr. Becker is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, whose members are committed to advancing the administration of justice and the highest standards of professionalism in the appellate courts. He serves on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Commission on Judicial Independence, which promotes understanding about the rule of law and the role of the judiciary in civil society. He is the immediate past president of the Third Circuit Bar Association. Mr. Becker served for nine years on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Appellate Courts Procedural Rules Committee and taught appellate advocacy for five years on the adjunct faculty of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He has written several book chapters and been active in continuing legal education. A graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School, Mr. Becker served as a law clerk for the Honorable Sandra L. Lynch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. 

William J. Phelan, IV is the Litigation Partner for the Philadelphia office of the national domestic relations law firm of Cordell & Cordell, P.C. He advocates in various areas of family law, including, but not limited to, divorce, prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements, child custody and support, equitable distribution, spousal support, alimony, adoptions and termination of parental rights, and domestic violence protection. In addition to being a seasoned trial attorney, he serves as a member of the firm’s Appellate Practice Division, handling his own appeals in Pennsylvania and assisting other attorneys with their appeals to various intermediate and high-level courts. Mr. Phelan is active with the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Family Law Section, Appellate Advocacy Committee, and is currently the Chair of the Disability Services Committee. He was President of the Doris Jonas Freed Matrimonial American Inn of Court (2021-22) and served on its executive board for several years. He is a Council Member of the Brehon Law Society (a legal organization comprised of attorneys and judges of Irish ancestry). He has been selected to: the Irish Legal 100 in 2019 and 2023; the 2022 Appellate Lawyers; Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2022 (for a total of five years); The National Advocates Top 100 List; National Academy of Family Law Attorneys’ Top 10 Under 40 Attorneys; and the 10 Best Family Law Attorneys for Client Satisfaction in Pennsylvania by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys. Within his firm, Mr. Phelan volunteers as a mentor for other attorneys regarding development of their litigation and appellate skills. He presents and is published frequently on the topics of family law and disability rights. Mr. Phelan is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. District Courts for Eastern Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. He graduated magna cum laude from The Catholic University of America earning a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Civilizations and then a Master of Arts in Congressional and Presidential Studies (Politics). He earned his Juris Doctor, with a certificate in Law and Public Policy, from The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. During law school, Mr. Phelan served as a Senior Editor for The Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy. Mr. Phelan attended the American Bar Association’s Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute. He is a proud graduate of La Salle College High School. Mr. Phelan volunteers on the leadership committee for Project Magis, a group of legal and financial services professionals who fundraise for local community support programs.  Previously, he was President of the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities Appeal of Greater Philadelphia (serving on its board from 2016 to 2022).

Prof. Epstein is Director of Advocacy Programs at Temple Beasley School of Law (Philadelphia). He teaches and writes in the areas of trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, evidence, and criminal law. He has concentrated on issues involving forensic science, the death penalty, eyewitness evidence, and advocacy. Professor Epstein has argued repeatedly in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and has authored or co-authored numerous amicus briefs for that Court.