Deals & Cases

Jones Day extends record before Roberts court

Jones Day continued its record of success before the U.S. Supreme Court in the October 2006 Term. Jones Day is consistently in the top tier of law firms for most Supreme Court arguments.

Jones Day added two important victories to its record before the newly constituted Roberts Court. In Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Glen Nager, who argued the case, Mike Carvin, and Shay Dvoretzky prevailed in one of the Court’s most important labor cases in recent years. In a narrowly divided 5-4 decision, the high Court held that Title VII bars a private plaintiff from bringing an intentional pay discrimination claim challenging pay decisions that occurred outside of the statutory limitations period, even if those decisions continue to have adverse effects on paychecks received during the limitations period. The Court adopted the argument advanced by Jones Day over the positions previously taken in seven of nine courts of appeals. In Sinochem Int'l Co., Ltd. v. Malaysia Int'l Shipping Corp., Greg Castanias who argued the case, led to victory an international team of four Jones Day lawyers – Vicky Dorfman of the Washington, D.C. Office and Peter Wang and Alex Zhang of the Shanghai Office. In an important decision about federal court jurisdiction, a unanimous court held that a district court has discretion to respond at once to a defendant’s forum non conveniens plea, and need not take up first any other threshold objection.

In the last three years, Jones Day has argued twelve cases before the Supreme Court. Jones Day has had remarkable success, winning seven of these cases. These cases, moreover, addressed issues of vital importance to American businesses, including in the areas of antitrust (Texaco Inc. v. Dagher), employment law (Smith v. City of Jackson), the Truth in Lending Act (Koons Buick v. Nigh), and Fifth Amendment Takings (Lingle v. Chevron). These cases also reflect the depth of Jones Day’s Issues & Appeals practice, as these twelve cases were argued by seven different lawyers. No other private firm had as many lawyers argue before the Supreme Court during this period.

This last fact highlights one of the greatest strengths of Jones Day's Issues & Appeals practice: its deep reservoir of talent. Nine of the 51 lawyers presently in Jones Day’s Issues & Appeals practice have argued before the Supreme Court. Thirty-six of them have argued before the federal courts of appeals. Jones Day’s practice also includes 20 former Supreme Court law clerks and 42 lawyers who have clerked on federal courts of appeals throughout the Nation. These attorneys recently helped establish a new Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at the New York University School of Law. Jones Day’s talent pool thus extends deep into its bench.

In short, Jones Day has built one of the nation’s premier Supreme Court practices by providing clients with the highest caliber attorneys available. The Issues & Appeals practice is positioned to continue its extraordinary record of achievement as the nation propels into the era of the Roberts Court.

More information about Jones Day’s Issues & Appeals practice can be found at http://www.jonesday.com/issues_appeals/.