Val Leppert is a legal strategist and first-chair appellate lawyer. Ranked and recognized by Chambers & Partners as "an accomplished appellate litigator," Val has obtained the reversal or vacatur of numerous adverse judgments entered against his clients and has prevailed in dozens of other matters. He has represented businesses across an array of industries, including airline, automotive, energy, insurance, lending, medical device, pharmaceutical, private equity, technology, and transportation. But Val has developed particular expertise in consumer products, having worked extensively in tobacco litigation while also representing companies in matters pertaining to alcohol, construction materials, and talcum powder. Legal 500 has recommended Val for the defense of consumer products, including for “his appellate skills" as documented by his "string of notable appellate victories, saving [his clients] significant financial burdens."
In some matters, Val steps into the case on appeal. But in most instances, Val works alongside the trial teams from the inception of the case, devising the legal strategy from the pleadings stage through post-trial motions and appeal. Using this format, he frequently develops new and creative arguments and has secured a number of victories in pretrial proceedings, such as the dismissal of his clients before trial or limitations on the other side’s claims. If a case makes it to trial, Val often serves as legal issues counsel, helping the team shape the case by obtaining favorable evidentiary rulings or jury instructions. This integrated approach, where Val is embedded with the trial team, is frequently the foundation for success in post-trial and appellate proceedings.
Although he is resident in the firm’s Atlanta and Miami offices, Val works on cases throughout the United States. He has argued matters from North Carolina to Oregon and from Minnesota all the way down to the Southernmost courthouse in the Florida Keys.
Val served as law clerk to the Honorable Frank M. Hull, United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He graduated, magna cum laude, from Mercer University School of Law where he received the George W. Woodruff Award of Excellence as the top-ranked student in his class. While in law school, Val served as Articles Editor of the Mercer Law Review and as Research Assistant to Professor Harold S. Lewis, Jr. While in college, he was named the 2004 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference South Most Valuable Player on Offense after quarterbacking Westminster College (Mo) to consecutive football conference championships. He was inducted into the Westminster Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
Val is a native of Frankfurt, Germany, and is fluent in German.
