Practice Areas
Why You Need An Experienced Appellate Lawyer
Mr. Leven delivers strategic planning and strong advocacy skills to handle complex legal matters and achieve the best possible outcome.
• Expert Knowledge – He has a thorough and deep understanding of laws, precedents, and legal strategies that can bolster the client’s case.
• Strong Advocacy – He presents compelling arguments and protect your rights.
• Strategic Problem-Solving – He anticipates challenges, and crafts winning strategies.
• Peace of Mind – His skill and determination provides the best legal representation, reduces stress, and increases confidence in the outcome.
Practice Areas
Criminal Appeals
Mr. Leven attacks convictions and sentences in state and federal courts of appeal. He uncovers potential legal errors in the criminal trial through diligent and comprehensive legal research. He drafts persuasive appellate briefs to convince a higher court to reverse the lower court judgment. He presents oral argument to the judges of the appellate court to achieve a favorable outcome. Investigates the full range of available law, including constitutional, state, and federally based claims. He determines whether the source of potential legal error is ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial or judge-made error.
Post-Conviction Proceedings
Mr. Leven represents clients in post-conviction proceedings. He drafts and litigates post-conviction and habeas corpus petitions challenging criminal convictions and sentences in state and federal courts. He investigates how wide-ranging sources of law can benefit the client, including constitutional violations, newly discovered evidence, and ineffective assistance of counsel.
Civil Appeals
Mr. Leven advocates for clients, either plaintiff or defendant, in civil appeals. He represents both the party appealing the trial court judgment or the party defending the judgment. He writes appellate briefs and presents oral argument to challenge or defend trial court judgments.
U.S. Supreme Court
Mr. Leven drafted briefs and presented oral argument to the justices of the United States Supreme Court in Washington D.C. on an important constitutional rights case entitled Rivera v. Illinois . The U.S. Supreme Court only grants roughly about 1% of the thousands of cases filed each year. Only those cases that are of national interest will receive the Court’s full review on the merits. Mr. Leven’s case is one of the select few that has earned the Court’s attention.
Mr. Leven gave a speech to the University of Toledo College of Law on his experiences preparing and arguing his case before the Supreme Court.
James K. Leven
Appellate Litigator
Illinois Supreme Court
The Illinois Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in Illinois. The Illinois high court grants permission to appeal only in cases with a significant public interest impact. Mr. Leven has prepared written briefs and presented oral argument in several cases.
Mr. Leven’s arguments have covered a wide variety of topics, including the constitutionality of certain police-initiated automobile stops, unlawful search and/or arrest, unconstitutional detention without a prompt probable cause hearing, coercive police interrogation practices, ineffective assistance of counsel, and the exclusion of unconstitutionally obtained evidence.
James K. Leven
Appellate Litigator
Illinois Appellate Court
Mr. Leven’s clients have benefited from many victories at the appellate court level in published opinions and unpublished orders, including outright reversals or remands for new trials in criminal and civil cases as well as orders affirming judgments in those cases in which Mr. Leven was defending appeals.
In addition to Mr. Leven’s wide-ranging knowledge and experience in criminal appellate law, his diverse practice in the civil appellate arena includes but is not limited to personal injury, premises liability, collections, landlord-tenant, employment discrimination, administrative review and family/divorce.
James K. Leven
Appellate Litigator
