Overview
Luke McCloud’s practice focuses on complex civil matters, with an emphasis on patent litigation. Luke has tried cases to judgment in federal and state courts. His clients have included global pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, leading technology companies, financial institutions, law firms, and individuals. In 2026, Luke was named a “Leading Partner” by The Legal 500. In 2023, Luke was recognized as a “Leading Lawyer” by The Legal 500, a “Rising Star” by Law360 and The National Law Journal, and among Bloomberg Law’s “40 Under 40” list. He has also been named a “Rising Star—General Commercial Disputes” by The Legal 500 (2020-2022), and a Managing IP “Rising Star” (2020).
Luke is also an experienced appellate advocate. He has argued four times in the U.S. Supreme Court and in multiple federal courts of appeals, and has filed dozens of briefs in high-stakes cases throughout the federal system. His appellate oral advocacy was praised by The Recorder as “poised and polished.” In the October Term 2014, Luke served as a law clerk to Justice Sonia M. Sotomayor on the Supreme Court of the United States. He previously clerked for then Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Judge Paul V. Niemeyer of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
A native of eastern Kentucky, Luke earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was Vice President & Treasurer of the Harvard Law Review and a finalist in the Ames Moot Court Competition. He currently serves as Vice-Chair of the firm’s Hiring Committee, a member of the Pro Bono Committee, and was previously a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Luke maintains an active pro bono practice focusing on veterans’ causes and landlord-tenant matters.
In 2023, Luke left the firm to join the U.S. Department of Justice as Assistant to the Solicitor General, where he was honored with the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for his work on Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. Luke rejoined Williams & Connolly in 2024.