Webcast: Fighting City Hall: How Companies Are Winning Constitutional Challenges to Local Ordinances
Webcasts | October 14, 2026
This recorded webcast examines constitutional challenges to state and local laws, with a focus on First Amendment constraints on government regulation. Drawing on Gibson Dunn’s recent Second Circuit victory for DoorDash and other delivery platforms challenging New York City’s Customer Data Law, the panel will discuss mandated disclosures and other compelled speech, and local laws that impair contracts, impose price caps, or single out disfavored industries for special burdens.
Topics discussed include First Amendment constraints on state and local regulation, compelled speech and mandated commercial disclosures, lessons from the Second Circuit’s decision on New York City’s Customer Data Law, and contract clause, takings, due process, and other constitutional challenges to laws that disrupt business models.
MCLE CREDIT INFORMATION:
This program has been approved for credit in accordance with the requirements of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board for a maximum of 1 credit hour, of which 1 credit hour may be applied toward the areas of professional practice requirement. This course is approved for transitional/non-transitional credit.
Attorneys seeking New York credit must obtain an Affirmation Form prior to watching the archived version of this webcast. Please contact CLE@gibsondunn.com to request the MCLE form.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP certifies that this activity has been approved for MCLE credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1 hour in the General Category.
California attorneys may claim “self-study” credit for viewing the archived version of this webcast. No certificate of attendance is required for California “self-study” credit.
PANELISTS:
Michael Holecek is a litigation Partner in Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles office, where he handles high-profile, bet-the-company lawsuits, arbitrations, and appeals. Companies in the gig economy, technology, and healthcare industries hire Michael when regulators or class action plaintiffs threaten to disrupt a company’s business model or impose billions of dollars in liability. Michael was lead counsel in the People of California’s lawsuit seeking to reclassify over one million gig workers, an enforcement action by the City of Chicago seeking penalties and restitution for allegedly deceptive consumer practices, numerous putative class actions against Amazon and UnitedHealth, and an MDL class action in the Southern District of Florida arising out of the FTX collapse. He obtained successful outcomes for DoorDash in its challenge against New York City’s customer data law, and for DoorDash, Uber, and Grubhub in challenges to municipal price caps.
Katie Townsend is a Partner in the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. offices of Gibson Dunn, Co-Chair of the firm’s First Amendment and Free Expression Practice Group, and a member of the Litigation and Media, Entertainment & Technology Practice Groups. An accomplished litigator with deep expertise in media and First Amendment law, Katie represents and advises individual and corporate clients across the media, entertainment, and technology sectors on high-stakes litigation and complex legal issues. Katie returned to Gibson Dunn in 2025 after serving as the Deputy Executive Director & Legal Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, where she oversaw the non-profit organization’s legal services portfolio, including its amicus curiae practice and the litigation and legal advising work of Reporters Committee attorneys. In that role, she represented the Reporters Committee, news organizations, and individual journalists, including documentary filmmakers, in media and First Amendment litigation in state and federal courts across the country at both the trial and appellate levels.
Jonathan Soleimani is Of Counsel in Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Appellate & Constitutional Law and Media, Entertainment & Technology Practice Groups. He represents and advises clients on constitutional and other complex legal matters, including litigation at the trial and appellate levels. His recent work includes securing a unanimous Second Circuit affirmance in a constitutional challenge to New York City’s customer-data disclosure requirements and representing delivery platforms in a challenge to municipal commission caps that resulted in a favorable settlement. He also played a leading role on the Gibson Dunn team representing individual Dreamer plaintiffs through all lower-court and U.S. Supreme Court proceedings in the landmark challenge to the rescission of DACA.
Aaron Smith is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn. Aaron represents clients in high-stakes administrative law, regulatory, and appellate matters. His practice centers on litigation involving federal and state agency action, including major rulemakings, investigations, enforcement actions, pre-enforcement litigation, and appeals. He is a member of the firm’s Administrative Law and Regulatory and Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Groups.
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