Williams & Connolly: Appellate

Representative Appellate Federal Matters

In re Grand Jury Subpoenas - In a case of first impression in the federal appellate courts, successfully argued that the government, in conducting a grand jury investigation, could not use a "taint team" of government prosecutors to conduct a privilege review of subpoenaed documents in a third party's possession, as to which subjects of the grand jury investigation claimed a privilege.
In re Prempro Products Liability Litigation - One of the plaintiffs in the multi-district litigation (“MDL”) over hormone replacement therapy, now the largest MDL, appealed the denial of her motion for new trial after a jury found in favor of Williams & Connolly LLP’s client Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in the second MDL bellwether trial. The Eight Circuit affirmed the trial court’s rulings, finding no error in the jury instructions given, determining that Wyeth’s expert testimony was properly admitted, and that portions of appellant’s expert’s testimony were properly excluded.
Nelson and Wycoff v. Hodowal - Class-action suit under ERISA against pension plan’s fiduciaries over holdings in IPALCO stock at time of stock-for-stock acquisition, which firm lawyers tried and successfully upheld verdict for fiduciaries in the Seventh Circuit.
Cleveland v. United States - Successful criminal appeal attacking applicability of the mail fraud statute to applications for state or municipal licenses.
Mitchell v. Helms - Amicus curiae brief successfully defending constitutionality of federal program lending instructional materials to parochial schools.
FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. - Successful challenge to FDA's assertion of power to regulate tobacco products.
California Public Employees' Retirement System v. Felzen - Successful defense of court of appeals' decision holding that shareholders who objected to proposed settlement of derivative action, but did not intervene, could not appeal from the approval of the settlement.
General Electric Co. v. Joiner - Successful challenge to appellate decision reviewing de novo the trial court's exclusion of expert witness' purportedly scientific testimony.
Agostini v. Felton - Successful defense of Establishment Clause challenge to federal funding of on-premises remedial instructional services for students in parochial schools (the only case in history in which the Supreme Court overruled its earlier decision in the same case, Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402 (1985), also handled by the firm).
Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc. - Amicus curiae brief successfully supporting rule that patents should be construed by judge rather than jury; brief referenced by Court at oral argument.
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton - Representation in constitutional decision on term limits for members of Congress.
Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. - Successful defense of First Amendment challenge to Amtrak's refusal to display political ad in New York's Penn Station.
United States Catholic Conference v. Abortion Rights Mobilization, Inc. - Successful appeal of contempt order against Catholic Bishops, vindicating witnesses' right to challenge plaintiffs' standing and court's subject-matter jurisdiction in underlying suit.
San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee - Successful defense of Olympic Committee's exclusive right to use of Olympic name.
Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc.; Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia; Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia; Nebraska Press Ass'n v. Stuart - Representation of major media organizations as amici curiae in landmark First Amendment cases.
Calder v. Jones - Establishing standards for personal jurisdiction in libel suit against individual journalist.
General Building Contractors Ass'n v. Pennsylvania - Successful representation of association in labor and civil rights case brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1981.
United States Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of Press; United States Department of State v. Washington Post Co. - FOIA cases seeking criminal history information and citizenship information.
Seatrain Shipbuilding Corp. v. Shell Oil Co. - Successful challenge to court of appeals' decision in litigation under the Merchant Marine Act.
Roemer v. Board of Public Works; Tilton v. Richardson - Successful defense of Establishment Clause challenges to state and federal grants to church-related colleges and universities.
Saxbe v. Washington Post Co. - First Amendment challenge to Bureau of Prison's policy restricting news interviews of inmates.
Fontaine v. United States - Successful challenge to denial of evidentiary hearing on § 2255 motion attacking guilty plea as induced by fear, coercive police tactics, and illness.
O'Brien v. Brown - Successful litigation of the Democratic Party's claim of entitlement to decide its own delegate-selection process.
Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe - Successful challenge to Secretary of Transportation's decision authorizing expenditure of federal funds for construction of expressway through public park.

Representative Appellate State Matters

People ex rel. Spitzer v. Grasso - The Appellate Division, First Department of the New York Supreme Court ruled that the Attorney General had exceeded his authority under the Not-for-Profit-Corporation Law, and ordered the dismissal of four of the six causes of action against Grasso. The New York Court of Appeals affirmed.
Williamson v. Culbro Corp. Pension Fund - Successfully reversed lower court decision on statute of limitations, resulting in dismissal of suit over distributions from hedge fund partnership.
Greene Tree Home Owners Ass'n v. Greene Tree Associates - Successful defense of claims alleging construction defects in residential townhomes.
Ovadia v. Bloom - Successful defense of Miami television station in libel suit over report on doctors.
Kindler v. Newsweek, Inc. - Successful defense of breach of contract action over alleged agreement to produce special advertising sections.
Janis v. California State Lottery Commission - Successfully defending class action challenging the lottery game "Keno."
Union Recovery Ltd. Partnership v. Horton - Successful appeal from dismissal of suit on promissory note assigned by the Resolution Trust Corporation.
Warwick Mall Trust v. State - Successful defense of constitutionality of legislation authorizing tax-exemption agreement with developer of shopping malls and parking garage.
Kendrick v. Fox Television - Successful defense of Fox and NBC in libel suit based on reports of drug raid in plaintiff's apartment complex.
Ocean Road Partners v. State - Successful appeal in case involving condemnation of oceanfront property.
Fellows v. National Enquirer, Inc. - Successful appeal on behalf of National Enquirer in suit for false-light invasion of privacy.

Representative Appellate Supreme Court Matters

Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 129 S. Ct. 1436 (2009) - Whether a state court validly enjoined the State of Hawaii from selling public lands held in trust for Native Hawaiians.
Saleh v. Titan Corp., 580 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 11, 2009) - Whether a government contractor may be liable for the alleged torts of its employees committed while they were working under the control of the military in Iraq.
Dreiling v. America Online, 578 F.3d 995 (9th Cir. Aug. 19, 2009) - Whether a company may be liable for short-swing trading of the shares of another company under Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act, on the theory that it is deemed to be the beneficial owner of the shares of the company’s chief executive officer, absent evidence that they engaged in coordinated purchases or sales.
Little v. KPMG, 575 F.3d 533 (5th Cir. 2009) - Whether competitors of an accounting firm had standing to challenge the firm’s alleged failure to obtain a valid license.
University of Pittsburgh v. Hedrick, 573 F.3d 1290 (Fed. Cir. 2009) - Whether researchers completed conception of the claimed invention before other named inventors contributed their efforts.
In re Fannie Mae Securities Litigation, 552 F.3d 814 (D.C. Cir. 2009) - Whether federal agency was correctly held in contempt for failing to comply with the deadline in a stipulated discovery order for records collected in its investigation of the Federal National Mortgage Association.
United States v. Tobin, 552 F.3d 29 (1st Cir. 2009) - Whether a judgment of acquittal was proper on the ground that there was insufficient evidence to establish the intent to harass necessary for a conviction under federal telephone-harassment statute.
Scroggin v. Wyeth, Nos. 08-2555, 08-2711 & 08-2713 (8th Cir. argued May 12, 2009) - Whether the verdict in a product-liability action should be set aside because the district court erred in admitting expert testimony regarding specific causation, the plaintiff failed to prove proximate causation, the evidence established that the claims were time-barred, and the district court gave an erroneous proximate-cause instruction.
Hankins v. New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, No. 07-4556 (2d Cir. argued March 4, 2009) - Whether a State may prohibit a church from enforcing a mandatory retirement age for its ministers.
People ex rel. Spitzer v. Grasso, 893 N.E.2d 105 (N.Y. 2008) - Whether the Attorney General of New York possessed the authority to pursue common-law causes of action for excessive compensation.
MedImmune v. Genentech - In an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit and reinstated MedImmune's lawsuit seeking invalidation of a Genentech biotechnology patent.
Cleveland v. United States - Successful criminal appeal attacking applicability of the mail fraud statute to applications for state or municipal licenses.
Mitchell v. Helms - Amicus curiae brief successfully defending constitutionality of federal program lending instructional materials to parochial schools.
FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. - Successful challenge to FDA's assertion of power to regulate tobacco products.
California Public Employees' Retirement System v. Felzen - Successful defense of court of appeals' decision holding that shareholders who objected to proposed settlement of derivative action, but did not intervene, could not appeal from the approval of the settlement.
General Electric Co. v. Joiner - Successful challenge to appellate decision reviewing de novo the trial court's exclusion of expert witness' purportedly scientific testimony.
Agostini v. Felton - Successful defense of Establishment Clause challenge to federal funding of on-premises remedial instructional services for students in parochial schools (the only case in history in which the Supreme Court overruled its earlier decision in the same case, Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402 (1985), also handled by the firm).
Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc. - Amicus curiae brief successfully supporting rule that patents should be construed by judge rather than jury; brief referenced by Court at oral argument.
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton - Representation in constitutional decision on term limits for members of Congress.
Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. - Successful defense of First Amendment challenge to Amtrak's refusal to display political ad in New York's Penn Station.
United States Catholic Conference v. Abortion Rights Mobilization, Inc. - Successful appeal of contempt order against Catholic Bishops, vindicating witnesses' right to challenge plaintiffs' standing and court's subject-matter jurisdiction in underlying suit.
San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee - Successful defense of Olympic Committee's exclusive right to use of Olympic name.
Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc.; Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia; Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia; Nebraska Press Ass'n v. Stuart - Representation of major media organizations as amici curiae in landmark First Amendment cases.
Calder v. Jones - Establishing standards for personal jurisdiction in libel suit against individual journalist.
General Building Contractors Ass'n v. Pennsylvania - Successful representation of association in labor and civil rights case brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1981.
United States Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of Press; United States Department of State v. Washington Post Co. - FOIA cases seeking criminal history information and citizenship information.
Seatrain Shipbuilding Corp. v. Shell Oil Co. - Successful challenge to court of appeals' decision in litigation under the Merchant Marine Act.
Roemer v. Board of Public Works; Tilton v. Richardson - Successful defense of Establishment Clause challenges to state and federal grants to church-related colleges and universities.
Saxbe v. Washington Post Co. - First Amendment challenge to Bureau of Prison's policy restricting news interviews of inmates.
Fontaine v. United States - Successful challenge to denial of evidentiary hearing on § 2255 motion attacking guilty plea as induced by fear, coercive police tactics, and illness.
O'Brien v. Brown - Successful litigation of the Democratic Party's claim of entitlement to decide its own delegate-selection process.
Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe - Successful challenge to Secretary of Transportation's decision authorizing expenditure of federal funds for construction of expressway through public park.