While appellate litigation always presents challenges, wading into an area of case law that even one of the judges called “a mess” means a whole new set of problems.

That’s what Kirkland & Ellis partners K. Winn Allen and Craig Primis faced defending their client, Honewell International Inc., against a labor contract challenge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. But they faced the challenge head on, streamlining their approach to make their legal theory work regardless of inconsistencies in case law, and bringing home a big win for a massive client on Wednesday.