Appellate

Hughes Hubbard & Reed’s appellate lawyers are lawyers’ lawyers, with a broad and deep understanding of the law that reflects our diverse practice. Their knowledge and experience allow us to bring different perspectives from law and public policy to advocate for our clients’ high-stakes matters. Our appellate team has represented clients in appeals in the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. courts of appeals, and many state supreme courts and intermediate appellate courts. The National Law Journal named Hughes Hubbard to the 2017 Appellate Hot List, which recognizes an elite group of lawyers and law firms that “posted hard-fought wins at the U.S. Supreme Court or in federal circuit courts.”

Hughes Hubbard represents clients in cases presenting cutting-edge issues across various areas of law, including antitrust, First Amendment, securities, intellectual property, banking, bankruptcy, product liability, and art law. Some examples include:

• TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods (U.S. 2017), unanimously holding patent infringement action subject to transfer for improper venue and overturning Federal Circuit precedent interpreting 28 U.S.C. §1400(b)
• Friedman v. Bloomberg L.P. (2d Cir. 2017), unanimously affirming the dismissal of a defamation suit brought by a former hedge fund employee against Palladyne International Asset Management B.V. and Milltown Partners
• In re Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. (2d Cir. 2017), unanimously affirming dismissal of claims by traders seeking double recovery from the Lehman Brothers estate of bonuses that already had been paid by Barclays
• Special Situations Fund III QP, L.P. v. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Cpa, Ltd. (2d Cir. 2016), unanimously affirming the dismissal of securities claims against Deloitte & Touche LLP and the Chinese firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA
• Tersigni v. Wyeth (1st Cir. 2016), unanimously affirming the dismissal of a claim against Wyeth for negligent design of the prescription diet drug Pondimin
• In re Lehman Brothers, Inc. (2d Cir. 2015), unanimously affirming the dismissal of claims against Lehman Brothers arising out of securities repurchase transactions as not qualifying for higher priority “customer” protection under the Securities Investor Protection Act
• Certain Funds Managed by Affiliates of Fortress Investment Group L.L.C. v. KPMG, L.L.P. (2d Cir. 2015), unanimously affirming that plaintiff funds could not seek documents in New York from KPMG International

Our appellate advocates also regularly prepare amicus curiae briefs on a variety of issues in cases before the Supreme Court and other appellate tribunals, such as:

• Coventry Health Care of Missouri, Inc. v. Nevils, No. 16-149 (U.S. 2017), arguing in support of state authority to regulate insurance matters on behalf of the National Association of Governors, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the Council of State Governments
• Sessions v. Morales-Santana, No. 15-1191 (U.S. 2017), arguing in support of gender equality in citizenship laws on behalf of Equality Now, Human Rights Watch, and other human rights organizations
• Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing LLC, No. 14-614 (U.S. 2016), arguing in support of cooperative federalism on behalf of the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures, and the Council of State Governments
• Aref v. Lynch (D.C. Cir. 2016), arguing that the Prison Litigation Reform Act permits prisoners to pursue claims for non-physical injury to First Amendment rights on behalf of the Legal Aid Society and the American Civil Liberties Union