Crystal G. Rowe
Indiana
Kightlinger & Gray, LLP
Bonterra Building, Suite 200
3620 Blackiston Boulevard
New Albany, IN 47150
Tel: (812)949-2300
Email:
crowe@k-glaw.com
Web:
www.k-glaw.com
Crystal Rowe is a highly experienced appellate lawyer and Chair of Kightlinger & Gray’s Appellate Practice Group. She is also one of five members of the firm’s Management Committee. Her practice encompasses appellate litigation, insurance coverage and bad faith, professional liability, and general insurance defense, combining substantial appellate knowledge with a strong understanding of trial-level litigation.
Crystal’s appellate practice is informed by six years of judicial clerkship experience. Before joining Kightlinger & Gray, she spent five years as a judicial clerk with the Indiana Court of Appeals and an additional year as a trial court clerk in Allen County. This experience provides her with valuable insight into both trial and appellate procedure and enables her to advise clients on complex legal issues at different stages of litigation.
A prominent member of Indiana’s appellate bar, Crystal is a past Chair of the Indiana State Bar Association’s Appellate Section and has held leadership positions with the American Bar Association’s Council of Appellate Lawyers, Defense Research Institute, Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana, and other professional organizations. She has also participated in the Appellate Practice Institute and remains actively involved in the development of appellate practice and procedure.
In 2016, Crystal was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, which advises the Indiana Supreme Court on proposed procedural amendments designed to improve the administration and resolution of litigation. Her appointment reflects her broader involvement in the development of court practice and procedure within the state.
Crystal earned her Juris Doctor from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2000, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies. She is admitted in Indiana and Kentucky, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Seventh Circuits, the United States Supreme Court, and several federal district courts.
The appellate attorneys of Kightlinger & Gray, LLP are skilled in handling appeals at all levels in the state and federal courts. Our appellate practitioners have approximately 88 years of collective experience and have participated in almost 400 appeals, resulting in reported and memorandum decisions.
We have extensive experience prosecuting and defending appeals before the Indiana State Courts, Kentucky State Courts, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Seventh Circuits. Some of our appellate advocates are also admitted to, and have experience with appeals pending before, the U.S. Supreme Court. Our appellate attorneys have additionally served as counsel for amicus curiae—or friend of the court—in a number of high profile decisions.
Effective appellate representation requires knowledge of the technical aspects of appeals, along with an understanding of judicial perspectives. The rules of appellate procedure are as fluid as the rules of trial procedure and our appellate attorneys are familiar with the governing rules (as well as any case-law rule interpretations). We also understand that appellate courts are tribunals of last resort and that the opportunity to influence the court is often limited to a principal brief, a reply brief (if you are the initiating party), and—only occasionally—oral argument.
Kightlinger & Gray, LLP is a Midwest Firm that is well equipped to meet the needs of clients in both the public and private sectors. The Firm has over 45 attorneys, which provides the strength, depth and experience to handle any size matter, yet also, maintaining personalized, responsive service.
The firm has five offices; located Indiana and Kentucky: Indianapolis, Evansville, Merrillville, and New Albany, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky. Our five offices are tightly connected through organizational structure and technology, allowing our clients to draw upon the knowledge of a specific lawyer, regardless of where that lawyer—or the client, for that matter—is located.
Because of Kightlinger & Gray, LLP’s membership and participation in various national and international legal organizations, including The Harmonie Group, we are also able to assist our clients who may be seeking representation in a specific substantive area or jurisdiction that we do not serve.
“Known for her strength in appellate advocacy, Crystal brings particular depth to insurance coverage, bad faith, professional liability, and general insurance defense matters. Her ability to identify the issues most likely to matter on appeal and position cases accordingly makes her a trusted adviser throughout the litigation process.”