A passion for appellate advocacy to meet your family law needs
John Weaver brings over forty years experience in written and oral appellate advocacy to represent clients pursuing or defending appeals from circuit court judges’ family law decisions in all Maryland counties.
A passion for client advocacy
Mr. Weaver will bring his experience to bear to advise you about your
rights, provide practical and realistic counsel about your appeal
alternative, and zealously advocate your case.
Perhaps the trial court decision about divorce, alimony, child custody, visitation, child support, property division and monetary award, or other family law issue is confusing or unfavorable to your and you’re not sure about your rights. Or maybe your adversary has filed an appeal and you’re not sure what your next step should be. John Weaver understands the procedural and substantive aspects of Maryland appellate practice, and the time-sensitive nature of filing and pursuing appeals.
Mr. Weaver has a passion for oral and written client advocacy. He has written appellate briefs in more than forty appeals and argued cases before the Appellate Court of Maryland and Supreme Court of Maryland about significant family law issues (for example, divorce grounds; alimony – pendente lite, rehabilitative, indefinite; monetary award, business valuation; marital debt; child custody, child custody relocation; child custody modification; child support; child support modification; contract interpretation and rights; religious divorce issues; voluntary impoverishment; attorneys’ fees; “Crawford Credits” – contribution; common law marriage; responsibilities of Best Interest Attorney; comity and marriage validity; contempt; expert witnesses and discovery violation sanctions; limitations; jurisdiction; sufficiency of pleadings) resulting in several reported appellate decisions:
Lasko v. Lasko, 245 Md. App. 70 (2020) (sufficient a request for division of retirement benefits in a pleading);
Santo v. Santo, 448 Md. 620 (2016); (Joint legal custody: allocation of tie-breaking decision-making authority);
Tshiani v. Tshiani, 466 Md. 255 (2013) (comity, proof of valid marriage); Das v. Das, 133 Md. App. 1 (2000) (divorce grounds; default);
Das v. Das, 133 Md. App. 1 (200) (divorce grounds; default);
Guarino v. Guarino, 112 Md. App. 1 (1996) (pendente lite alimony; initial attorneys’ fees);
Rogers v. Rogers, 80 Md. App. 575 (1989) (marital property, indefinite alimony, marital debt, attorneys’ fees); and
Young v. Mayne Realty Co., Inc., 48 Md. App. 662 (1981) (limitations, meritorious defense).
Bethesda Magazine’s biennial TOP ATTORNEYS issue recognized John Weaver as one of the “Top Attorneys” in Appellate practice in 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Full Service Appeals
At Law Office of John S. Weaver we provide dynamic comprehensive appellate services from start-to-finish in pursuing or defending your appeal. We also can tailor the firm’s appellate services to meet various appellate needs of attorneys.
Co-counsel
John S. Weaver can collaborate with busy trial counsel to research, review the record, identify the issues to appeal, draft the brief, and/or argue the case before the appellate court.
Consulting
Perhaps trial counsel wants to be hands-on but seeks guidance on the process. John Weaver can act as a consultant, providing assistance meeting procedural requirements, refining your arguments and editing your brief, and helping prepare you for oral argument.
Ghost-writing
Often trial counsel doesn’t have the time to draft an appellate brief, but still wants to have their name attached to it and maintain the relationship with their client and perhaps present oral argument. Ghost-writing can provide research and writing services to meet the needs.
Appellate Solutions
Contact John Weaver to discuss how Law Office of John S. Weaver can assist you in your family law appeal.