Robert A. Batista

Robert Batista is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn.  He practices in the firm’s Litigation Department, and is a member of the Appellate and Constitutional Law and Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Groups.  Robert’s practice includes appellate and trial litigation involving managed-care issues and challenges to federal and state agency actions.  He also maintains an active pro bono practice.

Representative matters include:

• Jordan v. Rubio, 795 F. Supp. 3d 46 (D.D.C. 2025):  Appointed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to serve as pro bono counsel in a case involving a claim under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act challenging the State Department’s denial of a passport application.  Presented oral argument and won an order directing the Department to issue the passport.
• Lakeview Pharmacy of Racine, Inc. v. Catamaran Corp., 2026 WL 661902 (3d Cir.):  Lead author of successful Third Circuit appeal on behalf of pharmacy benefits manager, winning affirmance of summary judgment order dismissing all of plaintiff’s claims.
• 35 State Street Hotel Partners, LLC v. Loeffler, 2025 WL 870535 (D.D.C.):  Led successful challenge to the Small Business Administration’s denial of loan forgiveness for a loan issued under the Paycheck Protection Program.
• Bristol SL Holdings, Inc. v. Cigna Health & Life Ins. Co., 103 F.4th 597 (9th Cir. 2024):  Lead author of amicus brief on behalf of trade associations in ERISA preemption appeal.  The court’s reasoning drew heavily from the analysis in the amicus brief.
• Wit v. United Behavioral Health, 79 F.4th 1068 (9th Cir. 2023); United Behavioral Health v. U.S. Dist. Ct., 2024 WL 4036574 (9th Cir.):  Played a central briefing role in successful Ninth Circuit appeal and subsequent mandamus petition on behalf of claims administrator of ERISA-governed health benefit plans.  Client obtained reversal of a class action judgment that would have required it to reprocess nearly 67,000 coverage decisions, and then a mandamus order barring plaintiffs from trying to re-certify the class.
• Good Samaritan Medical Center, Inc. v. The Leapfrog Group, No. 25-cv-80526 (S.D. Fla.):  Played a central briefing role in bench-trial victory for five hospitals claiming that an organization’s hospital rating system violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.  Team was recognized as The AmLaw Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week.”
• National Association of Private Fund Managers v. SEC, 103 F.4th 1097 (5th Cir. 2024):  Played a key role in briefing a successful Fifth Circuit petition for review resulting in vacatur of the SEC’s Private Fund Advisers Rule, which would have fundamentally reshaped the relationship between private funds and their advisers.  Team was named Law360 Legal Lions of the Week and runner-up for The AmLaw Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week.”
• Riley v. Bondi, 606 U.S. 259 (2025):  Played a key role in briefing an immigration case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court appointed a colleague to defend the judgment of the court of appeals.  The Court adopted the team’s position on an important question regarding the timing of judicial review in the context of expedited removal orders.
• Owens v. Taliban, No. 22-cv-01949 (S.D.N.Y.):  Helped secure $5 billion judgment against the Taliban for victims of the 1998 U.S. embassy terrorist bombings.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Robert served as a law clerk to Judge Steven M. Colloton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and Judge Trevor N. McFadden on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  Robert graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was the Supervising Chair of the Harvard Law Review.  He graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Robert is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia.

Capabilities

• Appellate and Constitutional Law
• Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Litigation
• Litigation

Credentials

Education:

• Harvard University - 2018 Juris Doctor
• Yale University - 2015 Bachelor of Arts

Admissions:

• District of Columbia Bar

Clerkships:

• USDC, District of Columbia, Hon. Trevor N. McFadden, 2019 - 2020
• US Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Hon. Steven M. Colloton, 2018 - 2019