Appellate and Constitutional Law

LEADERS

Allyson Ho

Dallas

Mark Perry

Washington, D.C.

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VIEW ALL PRACTICE PUBLICATIONS
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Overview

The Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group’s lawyers participate in appeals in all 13 federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts throughout the United States and have presented arguments in front of the Supreme Court of the United States more than 100 times.  The group has broad experience in complex appellate litigation at all levels of the U.S. federal and state court systems.

In addition to traditional appellate litigation activities, the Appellate and Constitutional Law group provides a wide range of services on constitutional and related issues that include:

  • Formulating and briefing new legal arguments in the trial courts to ensure that legal arguments are developed and preserved for appeal
  • Developing and advancing constitutional and policy arguments on proposed legislation and regulations
  • Managing complex litigation
  • Developing novel or complex legal theories, sometimes long before the suit is filed
  • Advising on possible constitutional challenges to statutes and the effects of regulations on proposed transactions or business plans
  • Analyzing proposed legislation and regulations from legal and policy perspectives, testifying before the U.S. Congress and state legislatures, and engaging in other forms of legislative and public policy advocacy
  • Counseling government entities, allowing them to anticipate legal challenges and to avoid needless litigation

In recognition of its achievements, Gibson Dunn was named as The American Lawyer’s 2020 Litigation Department of the Year, recognized as the “best of the best.”  This unprecedented achievement was the firm’s fourth win in the last six years of the publication’s biennial “Litigation Department of the Year” competitions, and the sixth time in a row the firm has been a finalist.  Recognized by additional top legal publications including Chambers and The National Law Journal, we are proud of our reputation as aggressive, creative appellate lawyers and constitutional law practitioners.

The Appellate and Constitutional Law group has been involved in matters that cover a wide array of constitutional, statutory, regulatory and common-law issues.  Our experience and expertise extend beyond the courts in the U.S. jurisdictions where we maintain offices — California, Colorado, New York, Texas and Washington, D.C. — to include many others.

The Appellate and Constitutional Law group’s team of lawyers has a winning track record for grants of certiorari petitions, exceeding by far the Supreme Court’s average grant rate.  Our partners include the former Solicitor General of the United States Theodore B. Olson, former Assistant to the Solicitor General and Deputy Solicitor General Thomas G. Hungar, and former Assistant to the Solicitor General Miguel A. Estrada.  In addition, Frederick R. Yarger served as Solicitor General for the State of Colorado.  Daniel M. Kolkey previously served as an Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District.

Our strong, high-profile and successful presence before the Court includes appearances on behalf of clients that have included major U.S. corporations, U.S. states and presidential candidates.  Our group aims to win each case, but we also seek to address the root causes of your legal difficulties and, if possible, improve the legal, social and policy environments in which your rights will be decided.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Recent Constitutional Litigation Challenging Governmental Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

-May 19, 2020

Supreme Court Holds That Amendments To The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act Retroactively Authorized Punitive Damages Against Foreign State Sponsors Of Terrorism

-May 18, 2020

Supreme Court Casts Doubt On “Defense Preclusion”

-May 14, 2020

New York Appellate Division, First Department Lifts March 2020 Suspension Order, Reinstating Key Appellate Deadlines and Effectively Reopening the Court for New Appeals

-May 12, 2020

Supreme Court Holds That Copyright Protection Does Not Extend To Annotations Accompanying Statutory Text

-May 7, 2020

Federal Circuit Update (May 2020)

-May 7, 2020

California Supreme Court Holds No Right to Jury Trial for Unfair-Competition or False-Advertising-Law Claims

-May 2, 2020

The Constitutional Consequences of Governmental Responses to COVID-19:  The Right to Travel and the Dormant Commerce Clause

-May 1, 2020

Supreme Court Holds That The Federal Government Must Reimburse Health Insurers For $12 Billion In Losses

-April 28, 2020

Argued Vs. Submitted Cases At 9th Circ. During Pandemic

-April 27, 2020

First Quarter 2020 Update on Class Actions

-April 24, 2020

Gibson Dunn Earns 84 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2020

-April 24, 2020

Supreme Court Holds That Courts Can Order Trademark Infringers To Disgorge Profits Without Proof Of Willful Infringement

-April 24, 2020

Supreme Court Holds That Clean Water Act May Require Permits For Some Indirect Discharges Of Pollutants Via Nonpoint Sources

-April 24, 2020

Supreme Court to Resolve Longstanding Circuit Split Over Scope of Federal Anti-Hacking Statute

-April 23, 2020

Supreme Court Holds That Superfund Site Landowners Need EPA Approval To Obtain State-Law Cleanup Remedies

-April 21, 2020

Supreme Court Holds That PTAB’s Timeliness Decisions For Instituting Inter Partes Review Are Not Judicially Reviewable

-April 21, 2020

Constitutional Implications of Rent- and Mortgage-Relief Legislation Enacted in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

-April 16, 2020

Supreme Court Reschedules Half of Remaining Cases for Argument in Fall 2020

-April 15, 2020

Why Trump’s frivolous libel lawsuit against the New York Times is dangerous

-April 8, 2020

California Supreme Court Confirms That the Hague Service Convention Does Not Preempt Right of Parties to Contract for Their Preferred Method of Service

-April 6, 2020

Constitutional Implications of Government Regulations and Actions in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

-March 27, 2020

Supreme Court Unanimously Holds That A Plaintiff Suing For Discrimination Under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 Must Allege But-For Causation

-March 24, 2020

Arguments shed light on justices’ thinking in Seila v. CFPB

-March 20, 2020

Supreme Court Holds That Unread ERISA Plan Disclosures Do Not Give Participants Actual Knowledge Of The Information Disclosed

-February 27, 2020

Rimini V. Oracle’s Ripple Effect On Textualism, Expenses

-February 7, 2020

Gibson Dunn Announces Annual Pro Bono Award Winners

-February 6, 2020

Law360 Names Gibson Dunn Among Its 2019 Appellate Practice Groups of the Year

-January 28, 2020

Gibson Dunn Named a 2019 Law Firm of the Year

-January 13, 2020

2018/2019 Federal Circuit Year in Review

-December 19, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That The PTO’s Recovery Of “Expenses” Under The Patent Act Does Not Include Attorney’s Fees

-December 12, 2019

California Supreme Court 2019 Round-Up

-November 27, 2019

Gibson Dunn Promotes 13 Lawyers to Partnership

-November 20, 2019

Appointment of Administrative Patent Judges Held Unconstitutional

-November 5, 2019

Federal Circuit Update (November 2019)

-November 4, 2019

U.S. News – Best Lawyers® Names Gibson Dunn Law Firm of the Year in Antitrust and Appellate

-November 4, 2019

The National Law Journal Names Gibson Dunn to Appellate Hot List

-October 26, 2019

The 2018 Supreme Court Term Belonged to the Chief Justice

-October 15, 2019

The First Monday

-October 10, 2019

Supreme Court Round-Up (October 2019)

-October 7, 2019

Blaine Evanson Elected to California Academy of Appellate Lawyers

-September 25, 2019

Theodore Boutrous, Richard Doren, Daniel Kolkey and Debra Wong Yang Named to Daily Journal’s Top 100 List

-September 18, 2019

What To Consider Before Filing For A Rule 57 Speedy Hearing

-September 13, 2019

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. Named Litigator of the Week

-September 9, 2019

New York Court of Appeals Round-Up & Preview (September 2019)

-September 3, 2019

Three Keys to Amicus Brief Success

-August 21, 2019

Gibson Dunn Lawyers Recognized in the Best Lawyers in America® 2020

-August 15, 2019

Federal Circuit Update (August 2019)

-August 14, 2019

Getting the Deal Through: Appeals 2019

-August 13, 2019

Benchmark Litigation Names Three Partners to 40 & Under Hotlist

-August 13, 2019

Gibson Dunn Ranked in 2019 U.S. Legal 500

-July 11, 2019

Supreme Court Round-Up (July 2019)

-July 2, 2019

Supreme Court Sends 2020 Census Citizenship Question Back to the Department of Commerce, Citing Contrived Rationale

-June 28, 2019

Reinforcing Limits On Its Use, Supreme Court Upholds Auer Deference In Veterans Affairs Dispute

-June 26, 2019

Supreme Court Upholds Dormant Commerce Clause Challenge To Tennessee’s Durational Residency Requirement For Liquor Retailers

-June 26, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That A Federal Ban on “Immoral or Scandalous” Trademarks Violates the First Amendment

-June 24, 2019

Supreme Court Avoids Answering Question On Hobbs Act Deference To FCC Orders

-June 20, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That The First Amendment Does Not Apply To Private Operators Of Public Access Television Channels

-June 18, 2019

Matthew McGill Named Litigator of the Week

-June 7, 2019

Supreme Court Round-Up: A Summary of the Court’s Opinions, Cases to Be Argued This Term, and Other Developments

-June 6, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That Title VII’s Administrative Exhaustion Requirement Is Not A Jurisdictional Prerequisite To Suit

-June 3, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That Third-Party Defendants May Not Remove Class Action Counterclaims To Federal Court

-May 28, 2019

Webcast: Is It Bad To Be Big? An Antitrust Update On Monopoly Law And Enforcement

-May 28, 2019

Supreme Court Rules That Trademark Licensee Retains License Rights Following Rejection in Bankruptcy

-May 28, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That Courts, Not Juries, Must Decide Whether The FDA’s Rejection Of A Proposed Warning Label Provides “Clear Evidence” To Preempt A State-Law Failure-To-Warn Claim

-May 20, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That iPhone Users Have Standing To Seek Federal Antitrust Damages From Apple For App Store Purchases

-May 14, 2019

Federal Circuit Update (May 2019)

-May 13, 2019

Gibson Dunn Earns 79 Top-Tier Rankings in Chambers USA 2019

-April 25, 2019

Supreme Court Reaffirms Stolt-Nielsen And Holds That Class Arbitration Requires The Parties’ Unambiguous Consent

-April 24, 2019

Supreme Court Round-Up: A Summary of the Court’s Opinions, Cases to Be Argued This Term, and Other Developments

-April 10, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That Securities Fraud Liability Extends Beyond “Maker” Of False Statements

-March 27, 2019

Supreme Court Remands Cy Pres-Only Class Action Settlement Question Over Standing Concerns

-March 20, 2019

Supreme Court Holds Recovery Of “Full Costs” Under Copyright Act Is Limited To Those Costs Enumerated In The General Costs Statute

-March 5, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That Payments For Lost Wages Are Taxable “Compensation” Under The Railroad Retirement Tax Act

-March 5, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That Copyright Owners May Not Sue For Infringement Until Copyright Office Processes Registration

-March 4, 2019

Gibson Dunn Named Appellate and Labor & Employment Management Firm of the Year

-February 28, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That The Deadline For Filing Petitions For Permission To Appeal Class Certification Orders Is Not Subject To Equitable Tolling

-February 26, 2019

Helgi Walker Elected to American Academy of Appellate Lawyers

-February 25, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That Eighth Amendment’s Prohibition Of Excessive Fines And Related Forfeitures Applies To The States

-February 20, 2019

Several Gibson Dunn Cases Named Top Verdicts of the Year

-February 20, 2019

California Supreme Court Winter 2019 Round-Up

-February 2, 2019

Federal Circuit Update (January 2019)

-February 1, 2019

Supreme Court Holds That Confidential Licensing Agreements Can Trigger The America Invents Act’s “On-Sale” Bar

-January 22, 2019

Fourth Quarter 2018 Update on Class Actions

-January 18, 2019

Gibson Dunn Named a 2018 Law Firm of the Year

-January 16, 2019

Law360 Names Gibson Dunn Among Its Appellate 2018 Practice Groups of the Year

-January 14, 2019

Supreme Court Rejects “Wholly Groundless” Exception To Rule That Parties May Refer Arbitrability Disputes To Arbitration

-January 8, 2019

Federal Circuit Update (December 2018)

-December 4, 2018

Law360 Names Eight Gibson Dunn Partners as MVPs

-November 28, 2018

2017/2018 Federal Circuit Year in Review

-November 26, 2018

U.S. News – Best Lawyers® Awards Gibson Dunn 132 Top-Tier Rankings

-November 2, 2018

National Law Journal Names Gibson Dunn to Appellate Hot List

-October 31, 2018

Third Quarter 2018 Update on Class Actions

-October 24, 2018

Federal Circuit Update (October 2018)

-October 1, 2018

Three Gibson Dunn Partners Recognized Among Americas Rising Stars

-September 28, 2018

Supreme Court Round-Up: A Summary of the Court’s Opinions, Cases to Be Argued This Term, and Other Developments

-September 27, 2018

Federal Circuit Update (July 2018)

-July 31, 2018

Second Quarter 2018 Update on Class Actions

-July 18, 2018

Kennedy, Kavanaugh and the OT 2017 Term

-July 12, 2018

President Trump Nominates Judge Brett Kavanaugh To Supreme Court

-July 11, 2018