September 23, 2013
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that Helgi Walker has joined the firm as a partner in the Washington, D.C. office. Formerly co-chair of the appellate practice group at Wiley Rein LLP, she will continue to focus on appellate, regulatory and complex litigation matters.
“We are delighted to welcome Helgi to the firm,” said Ken Doran, Chairman and Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. “Helgi is a supremely talented, experienced and accomplished appellate lawyer. She has a winning track record with high-profile cases, including successfully appealing the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) first ‘net neutrality’ decision. She will add to the depth and versatility of our appellate bench and our administrative law group, as well as providing greater depth to our expertise in the telecommunications industry.”
“Helgi is a strong addition to the firm,” said Theodore B. Olson, Co-Chair of the Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group. “She is an exceptional practitioner and is highly regarded by the appellate bar. Her experience with high-stakes regulatory appeals fits extremely well with our appellate group’s current cases and clients.”
“Helgi is a top-notch appellate litigator and also a terrific strategist who can provide leadership and global strategic advice on our most important litigation matters,” said Andrew Tulumello, Co-Partner in Charge of the Washington, D.C. office. “She has extensive experience in the telecommunications industry and will add capability in the FCC space that will only grow in importance for our clients.”
“Gibson Dunn is known as having the preeminent group of appellate litigators in the country,” said Walker. “I am thrilled to join such a group and to continue to grow my practice on the firm’s litigation platform.”
About Helgi Walker
Walker practices appellate, regulatory and complex litigation. She has extensive experience in appellate challenges to agency rulemakings, particularly in the telecommunications space. She most recently served as co-chair of the appellate practice group and of the communications appellate group at Wiley Rein LLP, where she practiced since 2003. Her clients include Comcast and Verizon. She recently argued Verizon’s challenge in the D.C. Circuit to the FCC’s second net neutrality order in Verizon v. FCC, after successfully invalidating the FCC’s first such decision as lead counsel on behalf of Comcast in Comcast v. FCC.
She is a Public Member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, whose members are considered leading authorities on administrative law. She is a member of Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court. By appointment of the D.C. Circuit, she serves on the court’s Advisory Committee on Procedures, and she is an active participant in the judicial conferences of both the D.C. Circuit and the Fourth Circuit. She was appointed by President George W. Bush to the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission and served from 2006 to 2010.
She has been recognized by numerous publications as a leader in the field. She is listed as a leading lawyer in both Appellate Law and Telecom, Broadcast & Satellite by Chambers USA. The American Lawyer named her as one of “45 Under 45” lawyers to watch in the United States in 2011. In 2010, Washingtonian magazine recognized her as one of the District’s “Best Lawyers,” and The National Law Journal named her one of “Washington’s Most Influential Women Lawyers.”
Before joining Wiley, Walker served in the White House Counsel’s Office as Associate Counsel to President Bush from 2001 to 2003. In this role, she was responsible for legal matters arising out of the FCC, U.S. Departments of Labor and Transportation, and Federal Election Commission (FEC), as well as general regulatory and administrative law matters and judicial selection.
Before that, she served in the FCC as Senior Legal Advisor and Chief of Staff from 1999 to 2000 and Legal Advisor from 1997 to 1999 to FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth.
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. Before entering government service, she was an associate with Gibson Dunn from 1996 to 1997.
She 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.