Embedded Appellate Counsel
An appellate lawyer brought into a case before judgment, watching for preservation and appellate issues while trial counsel runs the litigation.
Embedded appellate counsel refers to bringing an appellate lawyer into a case while it is still being litigated, rather than after a loss. The trial lawyer continues running the case while appellate counsel watches particular issues through an appellate lens: preservation of error, important motions, evidentiary issues, jury instructions, dispositive motions, post-trial motions, and construction of the record. Florida appellate practitioners have described this as a way for trial and appellate counsel to divide responsibilities while a case is still developing.
This is a different service than hiring an appellate lawyer after a case is lost. The value here is making sure the strongest possible appellate issues actually exist in the record if an appeal later becomes necessary, not just arguing well from whatever record already exists. FloridaOnAppeal.com's preservation guide for trial attorneys covers the trial-level side of the same idea.