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    Jeffrey B. Wall

    Partner

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    Washington, D.C.

    +1-202-956-7500

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    wallj@sullcrom.com

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    Jeff Wall is a partner in the Firm’s Litigation Group and the head of its Supreme Court and Appellate Practice. Mr. Wall is the former Acting Solicitor General of the United States. He has argued more than 30 cases in the Supreme Court in a number of areas, including securities, class actions, arbitration, intellectual property, taxation, labor and employment, bankruptcy, preemption, the False Claims Act, the First Amendment, and criminal law and procedure. His recent arguments in private practice and for the government include Diamond Alternative Energy, LLC v. EPA (standing), Great Lakes Insurance SE v. Raiders Retreat Realty Co., LLC (maritime insurance), Murphy v. NCAA (sports gambling), Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Aurelius Investment, LLC (fiscal oversight of Puerto Rico), Frank v. Gaos (class actions), Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis (arbitration), and Halo Electronics v. Pulse Electronics Inc. (patent damages). Mr. Wall has also argued numerous cases before federal and state courts of appeals. He was recently twice named The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” for striking down the FCC’s net-neutrality rules and then overturning a billion-dollar judgment against several national pharmacy companies. Outside of court, he often counsels clients on strategic legal issues arising from litigation, legislation, or governmental oversight or investigation.

    A fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA, Mr. Wall is recognized as one of the country’s leading appellate lawyers. Chambers USA notes that Mr. Wall “has a formidable reputation for the quality and pedigree of his appellate practice,” and an “impressive track record before the Supreme Court.” He is regarded as a “top-shelf,” “sophisticated,” and “brilliant advocate.” In the past two years, he persuaded the Supreme Court to unanimously reverse the Third Circuit in a case involving parties’ freedom to contract (Great Lakes Insurance v. Raiders Retreat); he successfully challenged the FCC’s net-neutrality rules in the Sixth Circuit (Ohio Telecom Association v. FCC); he persuaded the Ohio Supreme Court, on certification from the Sixth Circuit, to eliminate a public-nuisance judgment against several national pharmacies (In re National Prescription Opiate Litigation); he persuaded the en banc Delaware Supreme Court to affirm the dismissal of a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit (Merck v. Bayer); he helped to obtain an injunction against the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on noncompete agreements (Ryan, LLC v. FTC); he successfully defended on appeal Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption (Nostalgic Partners v. MLB); and he prevailed on appeal in a precedent-setting case for the trillion-dollar syndicated-loan industry (Kirschner v. JP Morgan Chase). He also served as lead counsel in a week-long criminal trial against a local law-enforcement officer that resulted in a full judgment of acquittal.

    Before rejoining Sullivan & Cromwell, Mr. Wall served in the Office of the Solicitor General as the Principal Deputy for four years, twice leading the office as the Acting Solicitor General from March to September 2017 and again from July 2020 to January 2021. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing appellate litigation by the United States in the Supreme Court and the courts of appeals, which required coordinating with and counseling agencies throughout the federal government on their regulatory objectives. He successfully argued several major Supreme Court cases on the separation of powers, constitutional rights, executive authority, and religious liberty. Mr. Wall also served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General from 2008 to 2013.

    Following law school, Mr. Wall clerked for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He has taught courses in law school on administrative law and federal jurisdiction. He is a member of the American Law Institute, President-Elect of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court, trustee of the Supreme Court Historical Society, and former member of the Advisory Committee on Procedures for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He dedicates substantial time to pro bono representation and was recognized on the 2024 Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll. In the community, he serves on the board of the St. Albans School of Public Service, a program that brings together high-school students from across the country to explore their interest in public service.

    Recent Speaking Engagements

    • “Legal Writing Workshop” (Fourth Circuit Criminal Appellate Practice Seminar, December 9, 2024)
    • “The Impact of the Supreme Court on the Banking Sector: A Look Back and a Look Ahead” (The Clearing House Annual Conference, November 13, 2024)
    • “November Fireside Chat” (Federal Bar Association Tampa Bay Chapter, November 7, 2024)
    • “Daniel Webster Debate Series: Should the United States Ban Noncompete Agreements?” (Georgetown Law Federalist Society, November 6, 2024)
    • “A Conversation with Jeff Wall, Brent McIntosh, and Judge Readler” (Michigan Law Federalist Society, September 26, 2024)
    • “Recent Cases and Future implications for Business: The Power of the Administrative State” (Federalist Society Annual In-House Counsel Network Conference, May 17, 2024)
    • “Beating the (Financial) Regulators in Court” (Federalist Society Annual In-House Counsel Network Conference, May 17, 2024)
    • “Appellate Advocacy” (Federalist Society at University of Chicago Law School, April 18, 2024)
    • “Appellate Advocacy” (Federalist Society at Yale Law School, April 17, 2024)
    • “Supreme Court Preview” (Association of American Law Schools, March 8, 2024)
    • “Oral Argument Before The Supreme Court” (National Association of Attorneys General, November 29, 2023)
    • “Update on the Autumn Supreme Court Docket” (Audit Committee Leadership Network Meeting, Tapestry Networks, November 9, 2023)
    • “Importance of an Independent Department of Justice” (American College of Trial Lawyers, September 22, 2023)
    • “25th Annual Supreme Court Review: October 2022 Term” (Practising Law Institute, August 3, 2023)
    • “Market Evolution and the Effects of Regulation in the Asset Management Industry” (Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, June 13, 2023)
    • “Reflections: A Conversation with Judge Julius N. Richardson and Jeffrey B. Wall” (Columbia Law School and NYU Law School April 4, 2023)
    • “Oral Argument Before The Supreme Court,” (National Association of Attorneys General, November 30, 2022)
    • “A Conversation with Jeff Wall and U.S. Judge Julius Richardson,” (Federalist Society at the University of Virginia School of Law, September 29, 2022)
    • “Supreme Court Preview,” (Heritage Foundation, September 27, 2022)
    • “Supreme Court Preview,” (Federalist Society, September 27, 2022)
    • Supreme Court Preview,” (William & Mary Law School, September 16, 2022)
    • “Appellate Advocacy: Tips from the Pros” (Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, September 1, 2022)
    • “Supreme Court – A Year in Review, 2021 Term” (New York City Bar, July 20, 2022)
    • “An Evening with Adrian Vermeule,” (The National Press Club, Book Launch for Adrian Vermeule’s Common Good Constitutionalism, May 26, 2022)
    • “Congress, Jurisdiction, Process, & the Institution of the Supreme Court,” (The C. Boyden Gray Center, Congress’s Interbranch Role: The Executive, the Court, and Dobbs, May 25, 2022)
    • “The Supreme Court at a Crossroads,” (Harvard Law School Association, May 12, 2022)
    • “Regulatory Outlook: EPA, FTC, & SEC,” (U.S. Chamber Litigation Center and Institute for Legal Reform, Free Enterprise in the Courts: What to Expect in 2022 and Beyond, April 27, 2022)
    • “U.S. Supreme Court Update,” (Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference, Law in a Time of Crisis, October 29, 2021)
    • “Advocacy in the Thomas-era Court,” (The Heritage Foundation, Justice Thomas’s Thirty-Year Legacy on the Court, October 21, 2021)
    • “Backing a Winner: Long Term Davis Conference Center Strategies for Cases to Advance to the Supreme Court,” (The Heritage Foundation, Legal Strategy Forum, October 6, 2021)
    • “Supreme Court Press Preview: Anticipating the Supreme Court’s October Term 2021,” (Georgetown University Law Center, September 21, 2021)
    • “Dunn Lecture: A Conversation About The Supreme Court,” (William & Mary Law School, September 13, 2021)

    Spotlight

    S&C Secures Appellate Victory for Canadian Pacific in Mandatory Redemption Dispute

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    Jeff Wall and Morgan Ratner Named ‘Litigators of the Week’ for Sixth Circuit Net Neutrality Win

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    S&C Obtains Victory for Broadband Industry in FCC Net-Neutrality Appeal

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    S&C Helps Eliminate $650 Million Award Against Walgreens and Other Pharmacies

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    Jeff Wall Named ‘Litigator of the Week’ for Eliminating $650 Million Award Against Walgreens and Other Pharmacies

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    Experience

    Selected Representations

    • NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, USTelecom – The Broadband Association, and Ohio Telecom Association in their successful challenge to the FCC’s reclassification of broadband under Title II of the Communications Act in the Sixth Circuit. Jeff received The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” award for this win.
    • Walgreens Boots Alliance in obtaining a ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court, on certification from the Sixth Circuit, eliminating a $650 million public nuisance judgment in the national opioid multidistrict litigation. Jeff received The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” award for this win.
    • U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, Texas Association of Business, and Longview Chamber of Commerce in their challenge to the FTC’s rule banning noncompete agreements, securing the first nationwide decision declaring the rule unlawful
    • Bayer in obtaining the dismissal—affirmed on appeal by the Delaware Supreme Court sitting en banc—of a lawsuit brought by Merck & Co. alleging M&A-related contract claims
    • Blockchain Association and the Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas in obtaining a judgment vacating an SEC rule that sought to substantially expand the definition of who must register as a “dealer” under the Securities Exchange Act. Jeff was named runner-up “Litigator of the Week” by The Am Law Litigation Daily for this result

    • Boeing and certain of its current and former officers in a securities-fraud class action in the Eastern District of Virginia, including a class-certification appeal to the Fourth Circuit
    • Canadian Pacific Railway before the Second Circuit in securing affirmance of judgment in a multi-billion-dollar noteholder dispute
    • eBay in successfully dismissing an EPA enforcement action over the sale of certain prohibited items on its online marketplace
    • Great Lakes Insurance in obtaining a unanimous ruling from the Supreme Court in a maritime insurance dispute over a contractual choice-of-law provision
    • JPMorgan in securing the affirmance of the dismissal of a lawsuit in connection with a syndicated loan arranged by a group of banks led by JPMorgan for Millennium Laboratories
    • Major League Baseball in an appeal before the Second Circuit defending the league’s exemption from the federal antitrust laws
    • National Association of Private Fund Managers, Managed Funds Association, and Alternative Investment Management Association in an APA challenge to the SEC’s Securities Loan Reporting and Short Position Reporting rules
    • Spirit AeroSystems in two appellate victories in the Tenth Circuit in a case involving compensation for the company’s former CEO—first reversing a $45 million judgment, then winning again on a subsequent appeal
    • Tesla, Inc. in a pending appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court over the compensation plan of Tesla CEO Elon Musk
    • U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable in litigation against the Securities Exchange Commission over its revision of the rules governing proxy voting advice
    • U.S. Chamber of Commerce in briefs to the Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit about public-company disclosures regarding cybersecurity risks
    • Valero Energy Corporation in a set of consolidated appeals to the Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit challenging vehicle-emission and fuel-economy rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

    Cases Argued in the Supreme Court

    Arbitration:

    • Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018): whether the National Labor Relations Act prohibits enforcement of an individual arbitration agreement

    Bankruptcy:

    • Schwab v. Reilly, 130 S. Ct. 2652 (2010): whether the bankruptcy trustee is required to object to a debtor’s market valuation of property

    Civil Rights:

    • Hernandez v. Mesa, 140 S. Ct. 735 (2020): whether a Bivens remedy is available for cross-border incidents
    • McDonough v. Smith, 139 S. Ct. 2149 (2019): when the statute of limitations for a Section 1983 claim based on fabrication of evidence in criminal proceedings begins to run
    • Nieves v. Bartlett, 139 S. Ct. 1715 (2019): whether probable cause defeats a claim of retaliatory arrest under the First Amendment
    • Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida, 138 S. Ct. 1945 (2018): whether probable cause defeats a claim of retaliatory arrest under the First Amendment

    Class Actions:

    • Frank v. Gaos, 139 S. Ct. 1041 (2019): whether a class-action settlement that distributes cy pres funds satisfies Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e)(2)

    Constitutional Law:

    Criminal Law and Procedure:

    • United States v. Briggs, 141 S. Ct. 467 (2020): whether the Uniform Code of Military Justice allows for the prosecution of certain rapes only within five years
    • Henderson v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 1121 (2013): whether an error is plain for purposes of plain-error review when the law is unclear at the time of the error but subsequently becomes clear
    • Bailey v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 1031 (2013): whether the Fourth Amendment permits police officers executing a search warrant to detain an occupant who has left the immediate vicinity of the premises
    • Martinez v. Ryan, 132 S. Ct. 1309 (2012): whether a prisoner has a constitutional right to the assistance of counsel on collateral review when that is the first opportunity to raise a particular claim of error
    • Sykes v. United States, 131 S. Ct. 2267 (2011): whether a felony conviction for fleeing from law enforcement in a vehicle qualifies as a violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act
    • Barber v. Thomas, 130 S. Ct. 2499 (2010): whether good conduct time for federal inmates should be calculated on the basis of the sentence imposed or time served

    False Claims Act:

    Intellectual Property:

    Jurisdiction and Standing:

    Labor and Employment: 

    Maritime Insurance:

    Securities:

    • Gabelli v. SEC, 133 S. Ct. 1216 (2013): when a statute of limitations begins to run for civil penalty claims against investment advisers
    • Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC v. Simmonds, 132 S. Ct. 1414 (2012): when a statute of limitations begins to run for short-swing trading claims against financial institutions, officers, and directors

    Sports Gambling:

    Rankings and Recognitions

    • The Am Law Litigation Daily – Litigator of the Week (December 2024; January 2025)
    • Chambers USA – Nationwide Appellate Law (2023-2024)
    • The Best Lawyers in America – Appellate (2024-2025)
    • Lawdragon – 500 Leading Litigators in America (2024-2025)
    • The National Law Journal Appellate Hot List (2014, 2016, 2024)
    • Law360 MVP – Appellate (2016, 2024)
    • Law360 Legal Lion (2016, 2024)
    • The Best Lawyers in Washington, D.C. – Appellate Practice (2017)
    • Law360 Practice Group of the Year – Appellate (2016)
    • Legal Times D.C. Rising Star (2014)

    News

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    Credentials

    Education

    • The University of Chicago Law School, J.D., 2003
    • Georgetown University, B.A., 1998

    Bar Admissions

    • District of Columbia
    • Georgia

    Clerkships

    • The Honorable Clarence Thomas, United States Supreme Court, 2004-2005
    • The Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson III, United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 2003-2004

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