Munger, Tolles & Olson’s appellate and Supreme Court practice is recognized as among the best in the nation and routinely handles the highest-stakes matters before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. courts of appeals, and state appellate courts. Our lawyers have secured victories in cases of historic importance and have won ground-breaking appeals around the country on a wide range of subjects, including antitrust, securities, intellectual property, cross-border disputes, and regulatory matters.
The team has an extraordinary depth and breadth of experience. It is led by Don Verrilli, who served as Solicitor General of the United States from 2011 to 2016 and has argued more than 50 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Among his wins before the U.S. Supreme Court are landmark victories defending the Affordable Care Act and securing marriage equality. The team also includes three lawyers who served in the Solicitor General’s Office—Ginger Anders, Elaine Goldenberg, and Ben Horwich. Each has argued many times in the U.S. Supreme Court as well as in federal appeals courts and state appellate courts, and each has been recognized by Chambers USA–Nationwide Appellate as among the very best appellate lawyers in the nation. Others at the firm, including Jeff Wu and Dan Levin, also have significant civil appellate experience, particularly in California courts, and have led numerous appeals.
Few other firms have such deep appellate experience or so consistently represent companies in their most complex, high-value matters. Some of our recent U.S. Supreme Court and appellate matters include representing:
- The American Hospital Association before the U.S. Supreme Court in successfully challenging a Medicare rule change that denied hospitals more than $4 billion in past reimbursements and threatened to deny billions more in reimbursements going forward.
- The U.S. House of Representatives in successfully defending in the U.S. Supreme Court a challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.
- The Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico in successfully defending in the U.S. Supreme Court a constitutional challenge to the Board’s authority.
- American Express Company in successfully establishing pathmarking antitrust precedent in the U.S. Supreme Court on multi-sided platforms.
- Lyft, Inc. in successful appeals in the First, Second, and Ninth Circuits defining the scope of the transportation-worker exception to the Federal Arbitration Act as applied to rideshare drivers and local delivery drivers.
- The four largest freight railroads in the United States in persuading the D.C. Circuit, in a sweeping antitrust matter that consolidates approximately 100 price-fixing cases against four rail carriers, to exclude on statutory grounds certain evidence relating to discussions between railroads about interline shipping.
- CVS Pharmacy, Inc., in a Sixth Circuit appeal of a $650 million verdict arising out of multidistrict litigation concerning the opioid crisis.
- Grayscale Investments, LLC, in a challenge in the D.C. Circuit to a decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to deny a proposal by a national securities exchange to list and trade shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
- Wells Fargo Bank NA in the California Supreme Court, in a case establishing that lenders and loan services are not obligated to protect a borrower’s economic interests when processing a mortgage modification application.
- Google LLC in setting an important precedent for obtaining mandamus relief for patent infringement matters, as well as in multiple Federal Circuit appeals.
- Steves & Sons in successfully defending in the Fourth Circuit a judgment in an antitrust case in Steves’ favor ordering divesture of a key asset by one of Steves’ suppliers and awarding millions in dollars of damages—the first time a court in private litigation under the Clayton Act has awarded divestiture as a remedy for a completed merger.
- BNSF Railway Company in numerous successful Ninth Circuit appeals involving issues such as discriminatory taxation and preemption under the ICC Termination Act and other federal laws.
- Numerous public companies in successful representations in derivative suits and putative securities class actions in the Ninth Circuit.
- International organizations such as the International Finance Corporation and Interpol in litigation concerning international organizational immunity in the United States.
Munger, Tolles & Olson also has an active practice in the U.S. Supreme Court in seeking or opposing grants of certiorari and in representing amici at all stages. The firm is skilled at handling and opposing mandamus petitions and petitions for interlocutory appeal under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f). And the firm’s appellate lawyers frequently handle dispositive motions and other complex legal issues in trial courts and in front of regulatory agencies, where they work closely with trial teams to frame the issues in the most persuasive manner possible and to preserve issues for appeal.
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