With 2026 now underway, we would like to take a moment to update our clients and friends on what has been happening with our Supreme Court and Appellate Practice. 2025 was a banner year for the practice, marked by landmark victories before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts.
We welcomed to the group Yaira Dubin from the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office as the new co‑head of the Firm’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice in New York. Yaira is already leading precedent-setting cases involving prediction markets and AI-copyright, and we are excited to continue expanding our practice in New York.
We were pleased to be named an “Appellate Practice Group of the Year” by Law360 and listed on the National Law Journal’s “Appellate Hot List.” Three of the practice’s wins earned us the top nod as “Litigators of the Week.” Jeff Wall, the co-head of our practice, was named “Appellate Attorney of the Year” by the National Law Journal and was a finalist for American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Year.”
In addition to traditional appeals, our team has been at the forefront of a shift in appellate strategy toward increased use of interlocutory appeals and petitions for extraordinary relief—as demonstrated by our wins for FirstEnergy and Argentina last year, and for the broadband industry in its challenge to the FCC’s net neutrality rules.
We look forward to advocating for our clients in 2026, including upcoming arguments in the Supreme Court for AT&T, Exxon, and Verizon.
Landmark Wins
For Tesla Inc., we convinced the Delaware Supreme Court to reverse the Chancery Court and reinstate the 10-year, $60-billion incentive compensation plan for Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Jeff Wall and Morgan Ratner were named “Litigators of the Week” by the American Lawyer Litigation Daily, which said: “If the corporate governance world had a Super Bowl, this would be it.”
In the U.S. Supreme Court, we helped Valero Energy obtain a victory on standing that clears the way for targets of government regulation to bring legal challenges.
On behalf of the Broadband Industry, we helped end nearly two decades of fighting and uncertainty by persuading the Sixth Circuit to strike down the FCC’s net-neutrality rules. Jeff Wall and Morgan Ratner were named “Litigators of the Week” for this result.
For FirstEnergy, we obtained two critical rulings from the Sixth Circuit that defused massive securities litigation, including a ruling preserving attorney-client privilege and another that vacated the certification of a class of investors. Robert Giuffra Jr., David Rein, and Nicholas Menillo were named “Litigators of the Week” for the attorney-client privilege ruling.
For the Republic of Argentina, we obtained two significant results. The Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims that the country owes more than $650 million to hedge funds that had speculated on certain of its securities. The Second Circuit also stayed a U.S. district court order requiring the Republic to turn over its 51 percent stake in YPF, the largest Argentine energy company, to partially satisfy a $16.1 billion judgment, which we are appealing for the Republic.
For Standard Chartered Bank, we persuaded a unanimous Second Circuit that the bank is not liable under the Anti-Terrorism Act, as amended by the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, for allegedly aiding and abetting terrorist organizations. This was the first major appellate opinion on anti-terrorism statutes that squarely addressed and applied the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Twitter v. Taamneh.
High-Stakes Appeals
In addition to precedent-setting wins for our clients, we prevailed in appeals with billions of dollars at stake in courts around the country:
For Allianz SE and Allianz Global Investors U.S. (AGI US), the Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal with prejudice of a putative securities fraud class action stemming from multibillion-dollar investor losses in “Structured Alpha” funds that AGI US managed.
For Canadian Pacific, we persuaded the Second Circuit to affirm the dismissal of claims by bondholders seeking redemption of $2.4 billion of notes issued by CP to finance its acquisition of Kansas City Southern. We also successfully defended Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern before the D.C. Circuit, which rejected plaintiffs’ attempt to challenge the Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the acquisition.
For CPI Security, we convinced the Fourth Circuit to uphold a $180 million jury award in a dispute with competitor Vivint Smart Home Security.
For Spirit AeroSystems, we obtained a second appellate victory in the Tenth Circuit involving compensation for the company’s former CEO.
For Sumitomo entities, we obtained a reversal from a New York appellate court in litigation over a contractual tax-allocation provision in a $2.2 billion M&A deal.
Looking Ahead
In the coming months, we are excited to build on our recent record of success, representing our clients in the Supreme Court and several courts of appeals:
- Exxon in a Supreme Court case against the Cuban government involving damages for seized property.
- AT&T and Verizon in a Supreme Court case challenging the FCC’s monetary penalty powers.
- Argentina in a series of Second Circuit appeals relating to post-judgment discovery and enforcement against a foreign sovereign.
- CVS in an Eighth Circuit appeal challenging as unconstitutional an Arkansas law that discriminates against out-of-state pharmacy companies.
- Citibank in an interlocutory appeal to the Second Circuit challenging a case brought by New York’s Attorney General over wire transfers.
- Boeing and certain of its current and former officers in an interlocutory appeal to the Fourth Circuit of a district court’s ruling certifying a class in a securities fraud action.
We are sincerely grateful to our clients for trusting us with their important matters, and thank you to everyone who has contributed to these results. We look forward to another year of collaboration and shared success in 2026.