Leading Supreme Court Attorney and Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal Joins Milbank's Litigation & Arbitration Group
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Milbank LLP is pleased to announce that Neal Katyal, one of the nation's foremost Supreme Court attorneys and former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, has joined Milbank's Washington, DC office, where he will lead the firm's appellate practice and join its market-leading commercial litigation team.
"Neal has an unparalleled track record advising on many of the most notable Supreme Court cases in the last two decades. He is widely regarded not only as a preeminent appellate lawyer, but also as a trusted advisor to some of the largest businesses in the world," said Milbank Chairman Scott A. Edelman. "Neal is an appellate lawyer who gets involved in cases at a very early stage to anticipate and solve legal issues that are critical to his clients' outcomes. His range is extraordinary, having argued leading cases in securities law, privacy, employment, corporate, constitutional, financial services, labor, criminal, patents, copyright, trademark, bankruptcy, product liability and much more. Neal will work closely with our commercial litigation, white collar and antitrust teams on many of our most sensitive matters."
Mr. Katyal focuses on appellate and complex litigation, with extensive experience in all sorts of matters of federal and state law. He is one of a few living individuals to have argued more than 50 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, including Bristol Myers Squibb v. Superior Court, a landmark victory for personal jurisdiction law, and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, an important decision on presidential power and the rule of law. A 2023 study found Mr. Katyal had argued more Supreme Court cases than anyone else, save one person, in the preceding six years. And a 2024 study found him to be one of the two most successful Petitioners to the Supreme Court at any law firm in the country.
Before entering private practice, Mr. Katyal served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States, where he argued numerous major Supreme Court cases, such as his successful defense of the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and of former Attorney General John Ashcroft in a case involving material witness warrants. As Acting Solicitor General, he was responsible for representing the federal government of the United States in all appellate matters before the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals throughout the nation, serving as Counsel of Record hundreds of times in the Supreme Court. He was also the only head of the Solicitor General's office to argue a case in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, on the important question of whether aspects of the human genome are patentable.
"We are excited to welcome Neal to Milbank," said George S. Canellos, global head of Milbank's Litigation & Arbitration group. "With the addition of Neal and his market-leading appellate and commercial litigation practices, our deep bench of highly talented litigators will be best positioned to advise clients on their most critical matters."
Andrew M. Leblanc, Litigation & Arbitration partner and managing partner for Milbank's Washington, DC office, said, "We are thrilled to have someone of Neal's caliber join the firm, especially at a time of significant growth for Milbank's Washington, DC office. Neal is an exceptional lawyer, a prominent legal scholar, and is committed to training and mentoring the next generation of leading lawyers. His experience and leadership will greatly benefit our clients and our team. One of the things we were most excited about Neal's practice is how he and his team oversee some of the nation's most significant trials (and their pre- and post-trial stages) from an appellate perspective. Neal has paired with many other law firms in performing this critical work, and Milbank will now be offering to bring that leading client service in-house."
Mr. Katyal is the latest addition to Milbank's talented roster of litigators and trial lawyers. In 2024, Milbank welcomed Litigation & Arbitration partners Gurbir S. Grewal, former Director of the Division of Enforcement of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Attorney General of the State of New Jersey; Olivia Choe, former SEC Chief Litigation Counsel; Josh Sterling, former Director of the Market Participants Division of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and James Weingarten, former Chief Trial Counsel for the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission. The prior year, Milbank brought on Nola B. Heller, a market-leading white-collar and investigations lawyer and former chief of two units at the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. The firm built out its antitrust team by adding Richard Parker, one of the nation's leading trial lawyers and a former Director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, and Grant Bermann, a former trial attorney at the DOJ's Antitrust Division.
"I have long admired Milbank and have been fortunate to work with the firm on some leading cases over the last few years. At Milbank, I will be working with an outstanding team of lawyers that includes a number with whom I have strong personal and professional relationships. In particular, I was attracted to Milbank's track record of taking tough cases to trial when necessary to protect its clients' interests. It's also a pleasure to return a bit more of my practice to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where I began my legal career, and for which I have the greatest of affection. Speaking of affection, I cannot say enough good things about Hogan Lovells, it has been a privilege and honor to work there for the last several years and know I will be working closely with them in the years to come as they are an excellent firm with outstanding lawyers and people," said Mr. Katyal.
Mr. Katyal has been a law professor for over two decades at Georgetown University Law Center, where he was one of the youngest professors to have received tenure and a chaired professorship in the university's history. He has also served as a visiting professor at both Harvard and Yale law schools.
Mr. Katyal received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his A.B., with highest honors, from Dartmouth College. After graduating from Yale Law School, he clerked for The Honorable Guido Calabresi of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as well as for The Honorable Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the US Supreme Court. He also served in the Deputy Attorney General's Office at the Justice Department as National Security Advisor and as Special Assistant to the Deputy Attorney General.
He is the recipient of the Edmund Randolph Award, the highest award given to a civilian by the US Department of Justice. The Chief Justice of the United States appointed him in 2011 and again in 2014 to the Advisory Committee on Federal Appellate Rules.
Mr. Katyal is one of only three lawyers nationwide to be named to Lawdragon's Top 500 Lawyers every year since the list was created 20 years ago. He was recently named part of Forbes magazine's inaugural list of the top 200 lawyers in the United States. In December 2017, American Lawyer magazine named him Litigator of the Year; he was chosen from all the lawyers in the United States. In 2023, American Lawyer named him a Litigator of the Year again. He has also been named one of the 500 Most Influential People in Washington DC by Washingtonian magazine (2022 and 2023); Appellate MVP by Law360 numerous times; winner of the Financial Times Innovative Lawyer Award in two different categories (both private and public law, in 2017 and again in 2023); one of GQ's Men of the Year (2017); 40 Most Influential Lawyers of the Last Decade Nationwide by National Law Journal (2010); and 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers Over the Last 30 Years by Legal Times (2008).
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