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Key Contacts
Experience
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Constitutional Litigation
- Successfully represented recipients of federal funds in a Supreme Court case involving First Amendment rights of foreign affiliates.
- Convinced the Supreme Court to overrule Nevada v. Hall, which had allowed states to be haled into the courts of other states without their consent.
- Secured ruling from the Supreme Court that a death row inmate’s Sixth Amendment rights were violated when counsel admitted guilt over his objection.
- Successfully represented a capital defendant in a Supreme Court case holding that Florida's capital sentencing scheme is unconstitutional because it requires the judge and not the jury to find the existence of an aggravating circumstance that makes the defendant death-eligible.
- Obtained favorable Supreme Court decision holding that the US Constitution does not prevent the people of a state from using an initiative to give redistricting power to an independent commission over a state legislature’s objection.
- Won victory in landmark cases holding that Guantanamo Bay detainees may challenge detention through habeas corpus and that a statute purporting to deny review violated the Suspension Clause.
- Assisted in the successful defense of the constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in McConnell v. FEC.
- Represented a national network in successfully challenging a fine that the FCC had imposed for airing allegedly indecent material. The Court held that imposition of the fine was unconstitutional.
- Obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of a leading medical provider against California legislation in a constitutional challenge to a state statute.
- Won ruling that 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)’s “encourage or induce” provision is unconstitutionally overbroad under the First Amendment.
- Secured ruling that Fannie Mae and Federal Housing Finance Agency are not government actors for purposes of the Fifth Amendment.
- Defended two state universities in First Amendment litigation challenging the schools’ refusals to allow white supremacist to speak on campus.
- Secured ruling that it violates the Equal Protection Clause for the government to use cash bail in order to keep poor people in jail while awaiting trial on criminal charges solely because they are poor.
- Prevailed on mandamus petition establishing that Puerto Rico's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional.
- Represented energy efficiency aggregator in constitutional challenge to FERC penalty proceedings under the Seventh Amendment.
- Represented a telecommunications company in class actions asserting that it had cooperated with alleged National Security Agency surveillance, successfully defending the constitutionality of the retroactive immunity provision of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008.
- Handled multiple cases involving free speech challenges to federal and state laws requiring producers of agricultural commodities to pay assessments that fund generic advertising.
- Obtained dismissal of dormant commerce clause and preemption challenges to a California law prohibiting the sale of eggs in the state unless they were produced according to specified standards.
- Representing the Motion Picture Association of America in the Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit in its efforts to defend the constitutionality of the copyright restoration provisions in Section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
- Represented trade associations in bringing First Amendment challenges to a Department of Labor rule regulating insurance agents and broker dealers.
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Preemption Litigation
- Represented pharmacy-benefit managers in an ERISA preemption challenge to state law that controls the amount benefit plans pay for prescription drugs, mandates how disputes over payment are to be resolved, and allows pharmacies to refuse to fill prescriptions based on dissatisfaction with how much they will be paid.
- Won ruling in the Supreme Court that ERISA preempts a requirement that health plans report payment data on Vermont-related medical claims for use in a state database.
- Represented an aviation and defense company in a successful federal intergovernmental immunity challenge to a California statute that imposed heightened environmental cleanup standards on a single facility that had been used by the Department of Energy for nuclear research.
- Obtained summary judgment for a trade association striking down on preemption grounds a state statute that invalidated arbitration clauses in certain agreements.
- Won reversal of a ruling that a bank acted unlawfully under state law in foreclosure proceedings, on the ground that state law was preempted by federal law, under which the relevant conduct was lawful.
- Assisted with a successful appeal to the Tenth Circuit on behalf of an airline challenging a state’s effort at regulation as preempted by federal law.
- Brought successful preemption challenge to a state law that regulated airlines’ provision of services during extended ground delays.
- Represented tribe in a case involving an important question of federal preemption and Indian law under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
- Secured ruling that National Bank Act preempted state’s issuance of subpoena.
- Represented drug manufacturer arguing state law failure-to-warn claims were preempted by federal law.
- Helped secure ruling that government contractor defense barred claims relating to defoliating agents.
- Helped secure ruling that the Airline Deregulation Act did not create a private right of action and preempted state-law claims
- Brought a successful preemption challenge to a District of Columbia law that set price caps on patented prescription drugs.
- Represented manufacturer in a preemption challenge to a Texas Attorney General civil investigative demand relating to the marketing of vaccines.