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Profile Picture

Helgi C. Walker

Helgi
Walker

Partner

CONTACT INFO

hwalker@gibsondunn.com

TEL:+1 202.887.3599

FAX:+1 202.530.9595

Washington, D.C.

1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036-5306 USA

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PRACTICE

Appellate and Constitutional Law Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Litigation

BIOGRAPHY

Helgi Walker is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, D.C. office.  She is Co-Chair of the firm’s global Litigation Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.  She is also Co-Chair of the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Group and a member of the Appellate and Constitutional Law Group.  Chambers USA describes her as “dynamite in the courtroom and a forceful oral advocate,” “a brilliant legal mind,” and counsel with “excellent judgment” and “a reputation for excellence.”  In its 2020 competition, The American Lawyer named Gibson Dunn the winner of the Litigation Department of the Year contest and a finalist in the White Collar/Regulatory category that includes her practice areas.

Ms. Walker’s work focuses on appellate, regulatory and complex litigation matters.  She has extensive experience in appellate challenges to agency rulemakings and in other high-stakes commercial litigation.

Ms. Walker was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, which is limited to 500 lawyers nationwide.  By appointment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Ms. Walker serves as the Chair of the Court’s Advisory Committee on Procedures.  She also  is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Administrative Law & Government Litigation Advisory Committee.  From 2015 to 2021, she served on the Board of Directors for the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit.  And from 2010 to 2015, she was a Public Member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, which is composed of leading authorities on administrative law.

Ms. Walker worked in the White House Counsel’s Office as Associate Counsel to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003.

Ms. Walker clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas from 1995 to 1996 and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1994 to 1995.

Ms. Walker is listed as a leading lawyer in Appellate Law and Telecom, Broadcast & Satellite, and Commercial Litigation by Chambers USA.  In 2011, The American Lawyer selected her as one of the “45 Under 45,” “best of the best among young women lawyers” in the United States.  The National Law Journal named her one of “Washington’s Most Influential Women Lawyers” in 2011, and Washingtonian magazine has recognized her as one of the D.C.’s “Top Lawyers” in its biennial rankings, including in its 2022 list of “Top Lawyers: Supreme Court.”  In 2014 and 2015, she was included in Washington Life magazine’s “The Power 100” list of “influential players running Washington and the world.”

In addition, she was:

  • Named one of Benchmark Litigation’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” in the country (2021-2022).
  • Named by Lawdragon as a “Lawdragon Legend” (2021), one of only 32 lawyers nationwide recognized as “the biggest stars” who have demonstrated “sustained excellence and endurance.”
  • Named by Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star (2018-2021).
  • Named by Client Choice Awards as the winner of the District of Columbia Litigation category (2018).
  • Named one of D.C.’s “Top 50 Women Super Lawyers” (2013-2014), “Super Lawyers” (2009-2020) and “Rising Star” (2017) for Appellate by Super Lawyers.
  • Named by Law360 as an Appellate MVP (2015), describing her as a “go-to counsel for high-stakes appellate challenges of federal agency actions” and “leading cutting-edge litigation for a range of industries.”
  • Named by Law360 as a Telecommunications MVP (2016), observing that her work “has spanned the industry” including a “big win” for broadcasters in “a major ownership case.”
  • Named The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” for her win on behalf of Ford Motor Company before the en banc Sixth Circuit in a case involving telecommuting as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (April 2015).
  • Named The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” for her win on behalf of Verizon in the “major appeals court ruling” overturning the FCC’s “net neutrality” regulation of Internet service providers (January 2014).
  • Named The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” for obtaining a “blockbuster appellate decision” for Comcast in a challenge to the FCC’s first “net neutrality” decision (April 2010).
  • Included in The Best Lawyers in America directory for Appellate Law (2014-2023).
  • Recognized by Who’s Who Legal in the area of Technology, Media & Telecommunications (2016).
  • Named by Lawdragon as one of “500 Leading Lawyers in America” (2010-2017, 2022-2023).
  • Named by The Legal 500 US as a “recommended lawyer” in Telecom Litigation and Regulatory, described as “first rate,” possessing “an ability to untangle the regulatory problems but still retain an eye on the commercial current,” and “an absolutely fantastic appellate lawyer who is hard to beat” (2007-2013).
  • Rated AV Peer Review, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest ranking by peers for ethical standards and legal ability.

Representative Matters:

  • Represented the National Association of Broadcasters and other media and newspaper industry parties as lead counsel in the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of the FCC’s repeal or modification of restrictive and outdated local media ownership rules, winning 9-0.
  • Representing the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association in a challenge to a new HHS regulation seeking to prohibit pharmacy benefit managers and plan sponsors from accepting retrospective manufacturer rebates under Medicare Part D plans, successfully obtaining delay of rule’s effective date in D.C. district court.
  • Representing Amrock, a sister company of Quicken Loans, in Texas Supreme Court appeal of $706 million jury verdict for alleged trade secret misappropriation and related appeals regarding the sealing of trial exhibits, after successfully obtaining reversal of the entire verdict and trial court’s sealing orders in state court of appeals—including a win in the Texas Supreme Court in the sealing appeal.
  • Representing Bank of America in defending against FDIC lawsuit seeking alleged underpayment to the Federal Deposit Insurance Fund of more than $1 billion in D.C. district court and asserting counterclaim under the Administrative Procedure Act seeking to invalidate the underlying FDIC regulations.
  • Representing Citizens Bank in defending against CFPB civil enforcement action regarding Regulation Z credit card issues in Rhode Island district court, including the bank’s constitutional separation of powers claim against the CFPB.
  • Representing Chicago Venture Partners in defending against SEC civil enforcement action claiming convertible note lenders must register as “dealers” within the meaning of the Exchange Act in Northern District of Illinois district court.
  • Represented CTIA-The Wireless Association in the D.C. Circuit in successfully upholding the FCC’s “Restoring Internet Freedom Order” repealing the “net neutrality” regime.
  • Represented Verizon in successful D.C. Circuit appeal of the FCC’s order formally adopting “net neutrality” rules, obtaining vacatur of the rules.
  • Represented Comcast in successful D.C. Circuit appeal of the FCC’s first “net neutrality” decision, securing vacatur of that decision.*
  • Represented PHH Corporation in D.C. Circuit appeal of the CFPB’s actions against the company under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974—the first appellate challenge to a CFPB enforcement proceeding—and successfully obtained a stay of the agency order pending appeal and victory on the merits in a historic separation of powers ruling at the panel level, ultimately prevailing before the en banc court on administrative law grounds and securing vacatur of $109 million penalty.
  • Represented PricewaterhouseCoopers in Fourth Circuit appeal under Arbitration Act, obtaining precedent-setting win for employers.
  • Represented Ford Motor Company in winning en banc Sixth Circuit appeal regarding telecommuting as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Represented CTIA-The Wireless Association in Ninth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court in First Amendment and preemption challenge to City of Berkeley’s Ordinance requiring cellphone retailers to provide certain notices regarding radio frequency emissions, prevailing in invalidation of Ordinance.
  • Represented pro bono client Get Glam Beauty LLC in constitutional challenge to burdensome Mississippi cosmetology licensing law, prompting Mississippi to enact legislation exempting makeup artists.
  • Appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court to brief and argue the case in defense of the judgment below in Welch v. United States, involving the retroactivity of new rules on habeas review.

****** Matter handled prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Ms. Walker graduated in 1994 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and Raven Society and served as Executive Editor of the Virginia Law Review.  She also received the Robert E. Goldsten Award and John M. Olin Prize in Law and Economics.

Ms. Walker is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

EDUCATION

University of Virginia - 1994 Juris Doctor

University of Virginia - 1988 Bachelor of Arts

ADMISSIONS

District of Columbia Bar

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Webcasts - January 23, 2023 | Webcast: Fifth Circuit Round-Up: Shaping Business Law at the Circuit and National Level
Firm News - January 3, 2023 | Seven Gibson Dunn Attorneys Named Among Washingtonian Magazine’s 2022 Top Lawyers
Firm News - October 4, 2022 | Lawdragon Names 38 Partners Among its 2023 500 Leading Litigators in America
Firm News - August 5, 2022 | Twelve Gibson Dunn Partners Named Among Benchmark’s Top Women in Litigation and 40 & Under 2022
Firm News - June 1, 2022 | Gibson Dunn Earns 101 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2022
Client Alert - May 5, 2022 | CFPB Invokes Dormant Dodd-Frank Authority to Regulate Nonbank Financial Companies
Client Alert - March 10, 2022 | The Biden Administration’s Digital Assets Executive Order and Its Implications
Client Alert - September 10, 2021 | President Biden Announces COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates, with Legal Challenges Likely to Follow
Firm News - August 9, 2021 | Ten Gibson Dunn Partners Named Among Benchmark Top 250 Women in Litigation 2021
Client Alert - July 9, 2021 | President Signs Executive Order Directing Agencies to Address Wide Range of Businesses’ Competitive Practices, Including Non-Compete Agreements
Firm News - May 20, 2021 | Gibson Dunn Earns 94 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2021
Firm News - April 15, 2021 | Helgi Walker Named to the 2021 Lawdragon Legends of The 500
Client Alert - February 2, 2021 | Department of Health and Human Services Delays Effective Date of Final Rule Limiting Retrospective Manufacturer Rebates on Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Prices
Client Alert - January 21, 2021 | Biden Administration Issues Rulemaking Freeze and New Orders Governing the Regulatory Process
Client Alert - December 18, 2020 | Congress Buries Expansion of SEC Disgorgement Authority in Annual Defense Budget
Publications - August 20, 2020 | Aggressive SEC Enforcement Actions Could Limit Small Business Recovery Resources
Firm News - August 14, 2020 | Department of Justice Report Highlights Proposals by Gibson Dunn’s Helgi Walker to Modernize the Administrative Procedure Act
Client Alert - May 20, 2020 | President Trump Issues Executive Order on Regulatory Relief to Support Economic Recovery
Firm News - April 24, 2020 | Gibson Dunn Earns 84 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2020
Firm News - January 3, 2020 | Helgi Walker Elected to American Law Institute
Firm News - August 15, 2019 | Gibson Dunn Lawyers Recognized in the Best Lawyers in America® 2020
Firm News - February 25, 2019 | Helgi Walker Elected to American Academy of Appellate Lawyers
Firm News - May 3, 2018 | Gibson Dunn Earns 70 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2018
Client Alert - March 19, 2018 | D.C. Circuit Vacates Part of FCC’s 2015 TCPA Order in ACA International, et al. v. FCC, et al.
Client Alert - February 6, 2017 | President Trump Issues Executive Order on Financial Regulation, and Memorandum on Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule
Client Alert - January 31, 2017 | President Trump Issues Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs
Client Alert - November 30, 2016 | Tools of Transition: Procedural Devices That Could Help the President-Elect Implement His Agenda
Client Alert - November 7, 2016 | FCC Votes to Adopt New Regulations Governing Use of Customers’ Proprietary Information by Providers of Broadband Internet Access Service
Client Alert - October 13, 2016 | PHH Achieves Historic D.C. Circuit Victory Declaring CFPB Structure Unconstitutional and Rejecting Agency’s Imposition of $109 Million Penalty Under RESPA
Client Alert - August 4, 2016 | Media, Entertainment and Technology Group – 2016 Mid-Year Update
Client Alert - May 26, 2016 | Third Circuit Strikes Down FCC Rule Prohibiting Joint Sales Agreements and Stresses FCC’s Legal Duty to Review All Broadcast Ownership Rules Every Four Years
Client Alert - April 13, 2015 | En Banc Sixth Circuit Addresses When “Telecommuting” Is a Reasonable Accommodation Under ADA
Client Alert - June 20, 2014 | Supreme Court Unanimously Holds That Computer-Implemented Economic Concepts Are Not Patent-Eligible
Client Alert - January 14, 2014 | U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Vacates FCC “Net Neutrality” Rules
Client Alert - June 18, 2013 | Women in the Life and Law of the D.C. Circuit Courts
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