People

Danielle Spinelli

Partner

Spinelli, Danielle

Danielle Spinelli is a partner in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation, Government and Regulatory Litigation and Bankruptcy and Creditor Rights Litigation Practice Groups. She joined WilmerHale in 2002.

Practice

Ms. Spinelli’s practice focuses on representation of parties and amici in the US Supreme Court, in the federal and state appellate courts, and in trial-level matters involving complex legal questions. She has handled matters in a wide variety of substantive areas, including constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, administrative law, federal jurisdiction, Indian law, insurance law and international trade. In addition, Ms. Spinelli has substantial experience and expertise in disputes raising complex bankruptcy problems, and has handled many matters involving novel questions of bankruptcy law. She also has substantial experience representing governmental entities and litigating both against and alongside the United States. She has argued successfully before the US Supreme Court and federal and state courts of appeals.

Honors & Awards

  • National Law Journal's Appellate Lawyer of the Week (November 2010)
  • Named a future star in DC litigation by Benchmark Litigation (2010 and 2011) for "play[ing] a major role as one of the [firm's] younger Supreme Court practitioners"
  • WilmerHale’s 2006 John H. Pickering Award for outstanding pro bono service
  • National Law Journal’s 2005 Pro Bono Award for work on Roper v. Simmons
  • 2005 Outstanding Legal Service Award from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty for work on Roper v. Simmons
  • Amicus brief in support of certiorari in Smith v. Texas was one of two briefs honored as instances of Exemplary Legal Writing for 2006 by Green Bag
  • Amicus brief in Marrama v. Citizens Bank received 2007 Pro Bono Award from National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys

Publications & News

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April 5, 2013

Q&A With WilmerHale's Danielle Spinelli

An article featuring Danielle Spinelli in Law360's Q&A Series for Appellate.

June 1, 2012

RadLAX Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank: The Supreme Court Holds That Debtors Must Permit Credit-Bidding When Selling An Asset Free And Clear Of A Secured Creditor’s Lien Under A Chapter 11 Plan

April 1, 2012

"Debtor-Friendly" Bankruptcy Courts and The Secondary Loan Market: Will The Supreme Court Change the Dynamic?

Copyright © 2012 by The Loan Syndications and Trading Association, Inc., New York, NY. Reproduction, modification, distribution or public display without express written permission of the LSTA is prohibited.

April 1, 2012

Bellingham: No Reasonable Argument for "Narrow" Reading of Stern

An article by Danielle Spinelli and Craig Goldblatt, appearing in the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal.

July 19, 2011

Appellate Team Wins More Supreme Court Cases Than Any Other Firm in 2010 Term

November 11, 2010

The National Law Journal Names Danielle Spinelli "Appellate Lawyer of the Week"

Spinelli argued on behalf of an Indian nation in U.S. v. Tohono O’odham Nation, a challenge by the government to the tribe’s claims for relief in both the U.S. Court of Claims and federal district court in a case involving tribal trust assets.

July 8, 2010

For Whose Benefit? Courts in Adelphia and eToys Bankruptcies Decline to Unwind Transactions Where Suits Do Not Serve Goal of Creditor Protection

July 25, 2008

WilmerHale Secures String of Supreme Court Wins

July 14, 2008

WilmerHale on Winning Side of Three Recent Supreme Court Rulings

All three victories achieved for pro bono clients in the course of two weeks

June 23, 2008

WilmerHale Secures US Supreme Court Victory in Right to Counsel Case

Recent Highlights

Supreme Court

  • Successfully argued before the Court on behalf of petitioner in Rothgery v. Gillespie County, Texas (2008), a case presenting an important question regarding the scope of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
  • Argued before the Court for respondent in United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation (2011), which presented a significant question of federal jurisdiction.
  • Played a major role in the successful representation of the estate of E. Pierce Marshall against the estate of Vickie Lynn Marshall, a/k/a Anna Nicole Smith, in Stern v. Marshall (2011), a highly significant decision on the scope of Article III and the limits of bankruptcy courts' authority.
  • Authored an amicus brief on behalf of a group of ten major financial services trade associations in RadLAX Gateway Hotel v. Amalgamated Bank (2012), which resolved an important business bankruptcy issue by holding that secured creditors are entitled to credit-bid in sales of their collateral under Chapter 11 plans.
  • Represented parties or amici in a number of other recent Supreme Court bankruptcy cases, including Schwab v. Reilly (2010); Marrama v. Citizens Bank (2007); and Marshall v. Marshall (2006).
  • Primary author of the firm’s brief for respondent in Roper v. Simmons (2005), in which the Court overruled its own prior contrary precedent and held that the execution of offenders who committed their crimes as juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
  • Authored amicus briefs on behalf of the American Psychological Association and American Psychiatric Association in Graham v. Florida (2010), and Miller v. Alabama (2012). Both briefs were cited in the Court’s decisions, which held (in Graham) that juveniles may not constitutionally be sentenced to life without parole for non-homicide crimes, and (in Miller) that juveniles may not be sentenced to mandatory life without parole for any crime.
  • Played a major role in the firm’s representation of the sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007), defending the constitutionality of BCRA’s electioneering communication provisions.
  • Authored amicus briefs in support of the prevailing parties in Smith v. Texas (2007) (capital punishment); and Gonzales v. Oregon (2006) (validity of regulations purporting to forbid use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide).

Other Matters

  • Plays a lead role in the firm’s representation of Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries in many asbestos-related bankruptcy proceedings and appeals, including:
    • Prevailing before the en banc Third Circuit on an important issue of insurer standing in bankruptcy in In re Global Industrial Technologies, Inc. (2011).
    • Successfully arguing before the Third Circuit in In re American Capital Equipment (2012), regarding the validity of a Chapter 11 plan filed by a defunct entity with no meaningful assets other than insurance.
    • Playing a major role in developing overall strategy and briefing and arguing complex legal issues, often of first impression, in the Combustion Engineering, Western Asbestos, Mid-Valley, North American Refractory Co., Federal-Mogul and other bankruptcies and resulting appeals.
  • Played a major role in the firm's representation of the Government of Canada in its multibillion-dollar dispute with the United States over duties on imported softwood lumber, and in litigation raising related issues, including:
    • Successfully arguing before the Federal Circuit in Canadian Wheat Board v. United States (2011), which resolved a significant and recurring question regarding the interpretation of the NAFTA Implementation Act in favor of Canada.
    • Obtaining a victory in unusual proceedings before an Extraordinary Challenge Committee convened under NAFTA.
    • Defending against a novel constitutional challenge to the dispute-resolution provisions of NAFTA in the DC Circuit.
  • Represents the Tohono O’odham Nation, an Arizona tribe, in complex litigation arising from the  Department of the Interior’s obligation to take land into trust for the Nation, including successfully arguing before the US District Court for the District of Arizona that an Arizona statute seeking to prevent the trust acquisition was preempted by federal law, and successfully defending Interior’s decision to take the land into trust against an APA challenge.
  • Successfully argued before the Second Circuit in an appeal brought by former dealers arising out of the Chrysler bankruptcy.
  • Successfully argued before the Third Circuit on behalf of client AOL in a fraudulent-transfer dispute with the estate of bankrupt internet retailer eToys.
  • Represents swap counterparties in disputes with the Lehman bankruptcy estate involving interpretation of the Bankruptcy Code’s provisions governing complex financial products, and has filed amicus briefs on behalf of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association addressing related issues.  
  • Played a lead role in the firm’s important victory in United States v. Stein (2008), in which the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal, on Fifth and Sixth Amendment grounds, of the indictments in the tax-fraud prosecution of thirteen former partners or employees of the accounting firm KPMG.
  • Represented Public Utility District No. 1 of Snohomish County, Washington in a Second Circuit appeal and an array of related proceedings stemming from a dispute with the Enron bankruptcy estate that raised novel and complex questions at the intersection of administrative law and bankruptcy jurisdiction.
  • Played a key role in the firm's victory in the Connecticut Supreme Court on behalf of a major insurance company in a complex and high-stakes reinsurance dispute.
  • For five years, represented Virginia death-row client Darick Walker, arguing his case three times before the Fourth Circuit, including prevailing in the Fourth Circuit on the question whether Walker’s Brady claim was procedurally defaulted.

Professional Activities

  • Member, American Bar Association Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs
  • Member, The Constitution Project Amicus Brief Committee
  • Has spoken and published on a variety of topics, including bankruptcy law, juvenile justice, and the Supreme Court.

Practices

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Education

JD, magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1999, Sears Prize; Executive Editor, Harvard Law Review

BA, magna cum laude, Mary Baldwin College

MA, Columbia University

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia

Massachusetts

New York

Clerkships

The Hon. Stephen Breyer, US Supreme Court, 2000 - 2001

The Hon. Guido Calabresi, US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1999 - 2000