Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation

Our nationally recognized Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation practice is entrusted with clients’ most consequential matters, backed by our extensive experience before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals across the country. We provide strategic, persuasive advocacy – both written and oral – at every stage of the appellate process, and our clients benefit from seamless coordination with trial teams and our deep bench of seasoned appellate lawyers who craft compelling arguments and deliver impactful, results driven outcomes.

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Our services
Testimonials
Our experience
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Recognitions

Widely recognized by clients and courts as one of the nation’s premier appellate practices, our team briefs and argues cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, all thirteen federal courts of appeals, state appellate courts across the country, and trial courts nationwide. We handle the issues that define industries and shape the law – landmark constitutional questions, novel administrative law challenges, and cutting edge disputes that carry significant consequences for our clients. By bringing elite appellate advocacy to their most complex matters, we take on must win appeals and work to advance both their immediate litigation objectives and long term business goals. Our victories span high profile areas including technology, administrative law, intellectual property, and antitrust.

Our team of twenty partners, counsel, and associates is defined by strategic precision, rigorous analysis, and collaborative strength. We work seamlessly with trial counsel, including before litigation is filed, at strategic moments in the trial court, and on appeal, to shape winning narratives, craft persuasive briefs, and deliver impactful oral arguments. Every lawyer in our practice has clerked for at least one appellate judge – many for two or more – and our associates regularly argue more than a dozen cases each year. This depth of experience allows us to blend creativity with disciplined advocacy to shape precedent and secure results that resonate far beyond a single dispute.

Our leadership and team have been recognized across the industry: Jessica Ellsworth was a finalist for Litigator of the Year and Katie Wellington was named Young Lawyer of the Year at the 2025 American Lawyer Industry Awards; Cate Stetson is one of only two women nationally ranked Band 1 for Appellate Law by Chambers USA; and our group was honored as an Appellate Practice Group of the Year by Law360 from 2023-2025 and by the National Law Journal from 2021-2025. These accolades reflect our unwavering commitment to excellence in advocacy. Our Chambers ranked practice continues to influence precedent and policy nationwide.

Our capabilities at a glance

Handled dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court

100

Argued hundreds of appeals in federal courts of appeals and beyond

Key contacts

Jessica L. Ellsworth

Partner

Jessica L. Ellsworth

Partner

Washington, D.C.

Cate Stetson

Partner

Cate Stetson

Partner

Washington, D.C.

Sean Marotta

Partner

Sean Marotta

Partner

Washington, D.C.

Katie Wellington

Partner

Katie Wellington

Partner

Boston

Jo-Ann Sagar

Partner

Jo-Ann Sagar

Partner

Washington, D.C.

Meet the Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation team

Representative experience

Won a unanimous Supreme Court decision on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturer finding the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge FDA’s drug approvals.

Secured a rare 5–4 Supreme Court stay on behalf of several industry groups and states, blocking implementation of the EPA’s sweeping “Good Neighbor Plan” emissions rule.

Won a unanimous Supreme Court ruling on behalf of a pro bono client, establishing that courts must evaluate the full context of police use-of-force encounters under the Fourth Amendment.

Secured a 5–4 Supreme Court win on whether the 2018 First Step Act sentencing reforms apply to defendants at resentencing.

Secured Supreme Court stay of Fifth Circuit injunction against FDA approval of pharmaceutical product, with stay extending through Fifth Circuit litigation and any petition for certiorari.

Secured a rare 5-4 Supreme Court win for a client in a death penalty action concerning whether counsel waived a Batson challenge to the selected jury.

Secured grant of certiorari and argued on behalf of Royal Canin and Nestle Purina pet food companies before Supreme Court in a dispute arising from whether class action claims belong in federal or state court.

Represented Mexico before the Supreme Court in litigation testing the scope of firearms industry immunity.

Secured grant of certiorari and argued on behalf of Coinbase in the Supreme Court, and separately won favorable ruling in the Ninth Circuit for Coinbase, both on arbitration issues.

Won two Third Circuit appeals for Merck in parallel antitrust and False Claims Act matters involving the company’s staple mumps vaccine.

Won Fourth Circuit appeal for Novartis on Supremacy Clause challenges to Maryland and West Virginia statutes imposing obligations on participants in federal 340B program.

Represented Google in antitrust challenges to the Play Store, at the class-certification stage, post-trial, and at the cert stage.

Won vacatur of EPA orders that threatened to shut down Inhance Technologies’ U.S. operations in a high-stakes APA appeal and won follow-on litigation seeking to force EPA to act based on plaintiffs’ lack of standing.

Defended 4,000+ federal drilling permits in a major legal battle supporting critical U.S. infrastructure, securing a unanimous D.C. Circuit standing victory protecting critical energy projects.

Represent a major oil-and-gas producer in connection with all significant on-shore and off-shore leasing litigation against the government, including under the Administrative Procedure Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and Mineral Leasing Act, with cases in multiple courts of appeals and federal district courts.

Won an en banc Ninth Circuit Second Amendment case for the Attorney General of Hawaii, vacating an adverse panel ruling challenging the state’s knife restrictions.

Secured Federal Circuit affirmances in several patent infringement disputes involving variety of patent doctrines.

Secured a D.C. Circuit victory allowing drug manufacturers to restrict discounted-drug deliveries to contract pharmacies under the 340B Program.

Argued and won dismissal of complaint challenging “ultra-processed foods” on behalf of a joint defense group of 11 major food companies.

Served as embedded appellate counsel at trial for multiple clients in cases involving patents, trade secrets, contract disputes, antitrust claims, and state-law claims.

Awards and recognitions

Sole Winner of Appellate Hot List

National Law Journal

2024

Appellate Practice Group of the Year

Law360

2023-2025

Band 2: Appellate Law

Chambers USA

2012-2025

Appellate Hot List

National Law Journal

2021-2025

Insights and Analysis

Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation

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Our capabilities at a glance

Handled dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court

Argued hundreds of appeals in federal courts of appeals and beyond

Key contacts

Representative experience

Awards and recognitions

Sole Winner of Appellate Hot List

Appellate Practice Group of the Year

Band 2: Appellate Law

Appellate Hot List

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