Practice Area

Appeals

Federal appeals are not a continuation of the trial. They are a different kind of advocacy — one that requires mastery of the record, command of the applicable standard of review, and the ability to identify and frame the arguments most likely to move an appellate court. Khalil Kinchen handles federal appeals and post-conviction matters at every level of the federal system, from circuit courts through the Supreme Court of the United States.

Overview

The appellate court is not a second trial. It is a different fight entirely.

Most cases are won or lost at trial. But when the trial court gets it wrong — on the law, on the evidence, on the sentence — the appellate process is where those errors are corrected. Federal appellate advocacy demands a different skill set than trial work: the ability to identify the arguments that appellate judges find compelling, to construct a record-based narrative that exposes legal error, and to present that narrative in briefs and oral argument that move courts rather than juries.

Khalil Kinchen brings that skill set to federal appeals and post-conviction matters across the full range of criminal and civil federal practice. Our appellate experience spans six federal circuit courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. We handle direct criminal appeals, sentencing appeals, Section 2255 post-conviction motions, habeas corpus proceedings, and civil appeals in federal court. We also bring an institutional understanding of federal sentencing law that few practitioners can offer.

Federal Criminal Defense Practice Areas

  • Direct criminal appeals in federal circuit courts

  • Civil appeals in federal circuit courts

  • Sentencing appeals and guideline error challenges

  • Section 2255 post-conviction motions

  • Federal habeas corpus proceedings

  • Supreme Court certiorari petitions and merits briefing

  • Interlocutory appeals and mandamus petitions

  • Standards of review analysis and appellate strategy

  • Record preservation and trial court error identification

  • Expert witness services on federal sentencing matters

How We Approach Federal Appeals & Post-Conviction Matters

Our Method

Record Analysis & Issue Identification

The foundation of every federal appeal is the record — the transcripts, exhibits, rulings, and proceedings that define what the trial court did and what it got wrong. We read the record with the discipline of lawyers who have tried cases and argued appeals, identifying not just the obvious errors but the preserved issues most likely to move an appellate court. Many appeals are won or lost at this stage — before a word of briefing is written — by identifying the right issues and abandoning the wrong ones.

Standard of Review Strategy

Every appellate issue carries a standard of review that determines how much deference the court owes the trial court's decision. De novo review, clear error, abuse of discretion — the standard shapes the argument, and the argument must be built around it. We analyze standards of review with precision from the outset, structuring each argument to exploit the standard most favorable to the client and framing the record to support it.

Sentencing Appeals & Guideline Challenges

Federal sentencing appeals are a distinct subspecialty within appellate practice — governed by their own procedural rules, their own standards of review, and an institutional framework that most appellate lawyers never fully master. We bring an understanding of the federal sentencing guidelines developed from inside the United States Sentencing Commission to every sentencing appeal we handle — identifying guideline calculation errors, challenging enhancements, and arguing for variances that the district court failed to consider.

Oral Argument

Not every federal appeal receives oral argument, and not every appeal that does requires it to win. When oral argument is granted, we prepare with the rigor of experienced advocates who have stood before circuit panels and the Supreme Court of the United States — anticipating the court’s concerns, knowing the record cold, and using the argument to address the questions that matter most to the outcome.

Briefing

Federal appellate briefs are not trial court motions. They are persuasive documents written for judges who will read hundreds of them — judges who are looking for a reason to rule in your favor, not a comprehensive recitation of everything that went wrong. We write briefs with economy and precision: a clear theory of error, a record-based narrative that supports it, and legal authority marshaled in its service. Every word earns its place.

Post-Conviction Strategy

Section 2255 motions, federal habeas corpus petitions, compassionate release applications, and clemency petitions are not interchangeable remedies — each has its own procedural requirements, its own legal standards, and its own strategic implications for what comes next. We assess the full range of post-conviction options from the outset, develop a sequenced strategy that preserves each avenue of relief, and pursue them with the same rigor we bring to direct appeals. For clients who have exhausted conventional remedies, we look harder — because the Rob Will case taught us that hidden evidence and overlooked constitutional claims exist even in the most difficult post-conviction postures.

Track Record

Notable Client Outcomes

Supreme Court Argument - Lead Counsel

Gonzalez v. United States — U.S. Supreme Court

Served as lead counsel and presented oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States in a federal criminal matter.

Supreme Court Cert. Granted (Decision Pending)

Hunter v. United States — U.S. Supreme Court

Currently serving as co-counsel in a matter in which the Supreme Court granted certiorari in October 2025 to review a Fifth Circuit decision.

Full Dismissal

Obtained dismissal with prejudice of all charges following a multi-week federal jury trial in a complex healthcare fraud case — a post-trial result that required both appellate-level legal precision and trial court advocacy.

United States v. Redko — S.D. Texas

Conviction Reversal

Dunbar et al. v. Maryland — Maryland Appellate Court

Reversed a first-degree murder conviction and secured remand for retrial on appeal — one of the most consequential outcomes available in post-conviction practice.

FCPA Dismissal

United States v. Murta – Fifth Circuit

Affirmed district court’s dismissal of FCPA prosecution against international businessman based on Speedy Trial Act violation.

Sentencing Reversal

United States v. Lewis — Ninth Circuit

Vacated sentence and secured remand for resentencing based on federal sentencing guidelines error.

Post-Conviction Relief

United States v. Arrington — D. Maryland

District court granted Section 2255 motion, vacating robbery and firearms convictions — a post-conviction result that required identifying constitutional error in the underlying proceedings.

Post-Conviction Litigation

Rob Will — Death Penalty Habeas

Uncovered hidden evidence in a Texas death-penalty case and secured Fifth Circuit authorization for a rare second habeas corpus petition raising prosecutorial misconduct claims.

Federal Sentencing Expert

International Proceedings

Retained as subject matter expert on federal sentencing in extradition proceedings before Westminster Magistrates Court in London and in the Cayman Islands — reflecting an institutional command of federal sentencing law recognized beyond U.S. borders.

Client Experience

What You Can Expect from Khalil Kinchen

  • Supreme Court and Circuit Court Experience — At Every Level of the Federal System

    Federal appeals are not all equal, and neither is appellate counsel. We bring experience that spans six federal circuit courts and the Supreme Court of the United States — including oral argument before the Court and active co-counsel involvement in a current certiorari matter. That range of experience matters because appellate courts at different levels present different challenges, different procedural demands, and different standards for what constitutes persuasive advocacy. Whatever the court, we have been there.

  • Sentencing Commission Depth — An Institutional Understanding No Practitioner Can Acquire from the Outside

    Federal sentencing appeals are among the most technically demanding in appellate practice. The guidelines are complex, the case law is voluminous, and the standards of review vary depending on the nature of the error being challenged. We bring an understanding of the federal sentencing guidelines developed from nearly a decade inside the United States Sentencing Commission — advising presidentially-appointed Commissioners on guideline amendments, authoring Commission publications, and shaping the policy framework that governs federal sentencing nationwide. That institutional knowledge is available to every client whose appeal involves a sentencing issue.

  • Record-Based Advocacy Built by Trial Lawyers

    The best appellate advocates are lawyers who have also tried cases — because they know how records are built, where trial errors occur, and how to translate what happened at the trial level into arguments that move appellate courts. Our appellate practice is grounded in trial experience across federal courts, which means we read records the way trial lawyers do and write briefs the way appellate judges expect. That combination is rarer than it should be.

  • Post-Conviction Strategy That Goes the Distance

    Direct appeals are one avenue of post-conviction relief. Section 2255 motions, federal habeas corpus petitions, compassionate release applications, and presidential clemency are others — each with its own procedural requirements, its own legal standards, and its own strategic implications. We assess the full range of post-conviction options from the outset and pursue them in sequence when necessary. The Rob Will case — in which we uncovered hidden prosecutorial evidence and secured Fifth Circuit authorization for a rare second habeas petition in a death-penalty matter — reflects a commitment to pursuing relief that others have concluded is no longer available.

  • Direct Access to Senior Appellate Counsel

    Federal appeals are won or lost on the quality of the briefing and the precision of the oral argument. Neither is a task that benefits from delegation to less experienced lawyers. Every appeal we handle is worked directly by senior counsel — lawyers who have written the briefs, argued the cases, and lived with the outcomes. When the record needs to be read, the brief needs to be written, or the argument needs to be prepared, that work is done by the attorneys whose names are on the filing.

  • A Practice Built for the Hardest Cases

    Some appeals arrive with strong preserved issues and favorable standards of review. Others arrive after years of proceedings, with procedural barriers, exhausted remedies, and records that require careful reconstruction. We handle both — and we bring the same rigor to the cases that look difficult as to the ones that look straightforward. For clients and families who have been told that the appellate options are exhausted, we look harder. That instinct has produced results that conventional post-conviction ana

Why Khalil Kinchen

Supreme Court experience.
Fifth Circuit roots.

Federal appellate practice is among the most specialized areas of law. The attorneys who do it well have spent careers reading appellate decisions, writing appellate briefs, and arguing before appellate courts — not occasionally, but as the core of their practice. Khalil Kinchen brings that depth to every federal appeal and post-conviction matter we handle.

Our appellate practice is anchored by a practitioner who has argued before the Supreme Court of the United States, handled more than one hundred federal appeals across six circuit courts, and spent nearly a decade as Deputy Staff Director of the United States Sentencing Commission. That combination of appellate skill and sentencing expertise is rarely found in private practice. It is available to Khalil Kinchen’s clients from the first call.

Our Fifth Circuit experience — developed across both criminal defense and federal prosecution — provides the regional depth that matters most for clients in Texas and the broader Gulf Coast region. And our post-conviction practice reflects a commitment to federal criminal defense that extends well beyond the trial verdict.

Former Federal Prosecutor — Appellate experience in federal criminal matters and state court civil matters

Former Federal Public Defender — Fifth Circuit appellate experience and career federal criminal defense

United States Sentencing Commission — Nearly a decade of federal sentencing policy experience at the institutional level

Supreme Court — Oral argument experience and active involvement in current certiorari matter

One Hundred-Plus Federal Appeals — Across the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits

Take The First Step

Federal appeals move on strict deadlines.

The window for preserving appellate rights begins at the trial court level, long before a notice of appeal is filed. The earlier appellate counsel is engaged, the more options remain open.