Appellate and Constitutional Law

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is renowned for its award-winning Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group, one of the largest and most experienced appellate practices in the nation. Each year, we present arguments in the Supreme Court of the United States, all 13 federal courts of appeals, and state appellate courts throughout the country. We work closely with trial teams to preserve arguments and develop a winning litigation strategy. When the occasion calls for it, we also develop novel or complex legal theories, sometimes long before the suit is filed. No firm has a stronger record of appellate success.

Renowned U.S. Supreme Court Advocacy

Gibson Dunn has an unmatched record of success representing clients before the Supreme Court of the United States. With its diverse team of Supreme Court practitioners, Gibson Dunn consistently litigates multiple Supreme Court cases each Term, among the most of any firm. We regularly achieve victory in the most challenging cases with the highest stakes.

• Gibson Dunn lawyers have argued nearly 160 cases before the Supreme Court, with eleven current attorneys having argued at the Court.
• We build Supreme Court cases from the ground up, working hand-in-hand with trial attorneys to develop a strong record for appellate review and position each case for Supreme Court review if necessary.
• Our Supreme Court victories have been some of the biggest and most consequential in history:
  • Bush v. Gore, which resolved Florida’s recount dispute in the 2000 presidential election.
  • Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which struck down limits on corporate independent expenditures under the First Amendment.
  • Hollingsworth v. Perry, which defeated an effort by the proponents of California’s Proposition 8 to defend the proposition in court.
  • Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, the most important Supreme Court decision in decades on the limits of certifying claims for class action treatment.
  • Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, which reformed the law of patent eligibility.
  • National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, which struck down presidential appointments made while the Senate was in pro forma session.
  • Daimler AG v. Bauman, which recognized important due process limits on courts’ exercise of personal jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants.
  • Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, which struck down prohibitions on the legalization of sports wagering.
  • Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, which held that SEC administrative law judges are “Officers of the United States” who must be appointed consistent with the Appointments Clause.
  • Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, which struck down DHS’s attempt to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Unparalleled Federal and State Appellate Advocacy

In addition to our Supreme Court practice, Gibson Dunn attorneys handle a wide range of appellate matters in the federal courts of appeals and the state appellate courts.

• Each year, we brief and argue federal appeals in every regional circuit, the D.C. Circuit, the Federal Circuit, and dozens of state courts of appeals—averaging one appeal approximately every three business days.
• Our appellate attorneys regularly work alongside the trial team to anticipate legal issues and position our clients for victory on appeal even while the case remains in the trial court. This comprehensive approach to litigation permits us to leverage the wide expertise of lawyers across all of Gibson Dunn’s diverse practices.
• When government action is at issue, our appellate lawyers work with the firm’s nationally recognized Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Group. We have achieved significant victories in some of the biggest administrative proceedings across the federal government, including the FCC’s Net Neutrality proceeding and numerous SEC rules regulating the national securities exchanges.

Select Accolades

• Benchmark Litigation US 2022 ranked Gibson Dunn’s Appellate practice Tier 1 nationally, and named the firm its 2022 East Coast Appellate Firm of the Year.
• U.S. News – Best Lawyers® named Gibson Dunn the 2022 “Law Firm of the Year” for Appellate Practice in its “Best Law Firms” survey. Only one law firm is recognized in each national practice area.
• The American Lawyer named Gibson Dunn a Finalist in its 2021 Litigation Department of the Year competition, noting that “when news breaks and the pressure rises, clients call Gibson Dunn’s litigators to regain control.” This award follows our unprecedented four wins in this biennial competition. Ted Boutrous also was named 2020 Litigator of the Year, Grand Prize, recognizing that he was “at the center of some of the nation’s most closely watched cases on the First Amendment, the rule of law, privacy and more.”
• Law360 named Gibson Dunn a 2021 Appellate Group of the Year, for the third year in a row, marking the firm’s tenth appearance on its annual list of top appellate groups since 2011.
• Chambers USA 2022 ranked Gibson Dunn in Tier 1 nationwide for 37 practice groups, including Appellate Law.
• The National Law Journal named Gibson Dunn to its 2021 Appellate Hot List, which “highlights law firms that have handled exemplary appellate matters.”
• The American Lawyer ranked Gibson Dunn on its 2021 A-List, its most prestigious annual survey of the most elite law firms in the United States.

Our Team

Gibson Dunn has more than 200 lawyers who practice appellate and constitutional law in our offices across the United States, and is home to more than 240 attorneys who served as law clerks in the federal and state appellate courts, including more than 25 who clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, one of our lawyers held the prestigious Bristow Fellowship awarded by the U.S. Solicitor General.

Allyson Ho, Thomas H. Dupree, Jr. and Julian W. Poon are the Chairs of the Appellate Practice Group. All are widely regarded as among the nation’s most accomplished appellate litigators. Ms. Ho has presented over 70 oral arguments in federal and state courts nationwide, including multiple high-stakes cases on behalf of business before the U.S. Supreme Court. She also has a distinguished record of experience at the highest levels of the federal government. Mr. Dupree has briefed and argued several cases in the Supreme Court of the United States and more than 80 cases in the federal courts of appeals. He previously served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, overseeing more than 900 lawyers. Mr. Poon appears regularly before federal and state appellate courts in California, including the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court, and the California Court of Appeal. He has been recognized as an outstanding appellate lawyer by Chambers and a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation.

Three of our partners served in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States, the office charged with representing the United States before the U.S. Supreme Court:

• Theodore Olson served as U.S. Solicitor General from 2001 to 2004. Between his government service and private practice, Mr. Olson has argued 65 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Miguel Estrada served as Assistant to the Solicitor General from 1992 to 1997. Between his government service and private practice, Mr. Estrada has argued 24 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Thomas G. Hungar served as Deputy Solicitor General from 2003 to 2008, and as Assistant to the Solicitor General from 1992 to 1994. He was also General Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives from 2016 to 2019. Between his government service and private practice, Mr. Hungar has argued 26 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In addition, numerous other partners have held high-ranking government positions, including Helgi Walker and Elizabeth Papez.

Our attorneys have been honored as the “Litigator of the Week” or “Litigator of the Year” by The American Lawyer numerous times:

• In June 2019, Matt McGill was awarded Litigator of the Week for his successful challenge to the Department of Justice’s reinterpretation of interstate gambling statute.
• In August 2018, Miguel Estrada and Robert Weigel were recognized as Litigators of the Week for their success in seeking to attach assets of Venezuela to satisfy an arbitration award (in a decision that was later upheld by the Third Circuit).
• In November 2018, Ted Olson and Ted Boutrous were awarded Litigators of the Week for their successful challenge to the White House’s revocation of the press pass of CNN’s Jim Acosta. Ted Boutrous was recognized again in September 2019 for a similar victory involving Playboy White House reporter Brian Karem.
• In May 2018, Ted Olson was recognized as Litigator of the Week for his victory in the Supreme Court overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.
• In 2014, Miguel Estrada was awarded Litigator of the Year for, among other things, his groundbreaking win before the Supreme Court in NLRB v. Noel Canning.