Thomas H. Leeis Of Counsel in Hughes Hubbard & Reed’s New York office and the Leitner Family Professor of International Law at Fordham Law School. He has litigated petitions, appeals and dispositive motions in the U.S. Supreme Court, other federal courts, and New York state courts; advised U.S. and other non-Korean companies on doing business and investing in Korea; advised the U.S. and foreign governments on international law; has expertise and experience in international commercial and investor-state arbitration; and has litigated and advised private and government clients on data protection and cyberlaw. He has written dozens of articles about international law, U.S. foreign relations law, constitutional law, and federal courts. He has also been a visiting law professor at Columbia, Harvard, and the University of Virginia; U.S. law adviser to the Constitutional Court of Korea; and Special Counsel to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, for which he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. Before joining the firm, he served as a law clerk to Justice David Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court and to Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and as a U.S. naval cryptology officer deployed in the Western Pacific Ocean and ashore in Korea and Japan and with the National Security Agency.
Clerkships
Law clerk to Associate Justice David Souter, Supreme Court of the United States, 2001 – 2002
Law clerk to Chief Judge Michael Boudin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, 2000 – 2001
Professional Activities
Member, American Law Institute
Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Panel of Conciliators, International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
Court Admissions
United States Supreme Court, 2005
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, 2001
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 2005
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2006
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 2018
Highlighted Matters
Representation of defendant in the appeal of an SEC enforcement action
Representation of Korean multinational creditor in Pacific Gas & Electric Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings
Representation of foreign defendant in litigation in U.S. court for trademark infringement
Petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the applicability of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 to social-media data
Amicus curiae brief on behalf of U.S. Chamber of Commerce in appeal regarding federal preemption of state tort law
Pro bono representation of tenants in New York state court, resulting in sizable settlements for clients
