Reeves Anderson is a partner in the firm's Appellate & Supreme Court practice. He has represented businesses, individuals, states, and foreign governments in appeals and trial litigation across the United States, including 50 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. His practice covers a broad spectrum of legal issues "with a notable expertise in complex disputes with cross-border elements," according to Chambers USA. Since its inaugural ranking in 2021, Chambers has recognized Reeves among the top five appellate lawyers in Colorado.
Reeves' work has earned nationwide recognition for innovative advocacy and commitment to client service. A 2016 law review article on "stellar briefs" featured his Supreme Court merits brief in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl for its "brilliance" and "powerful emotional hooks" that "hit hard and fast" to prove his clients' position "was not only legally sound, but also fair" (Indiana Law Review, 2016). The National Law Journal considers Reeves a "court aficionado," and clients describe him as "a pleasure to work with," "absolutely brilliant," and "a phenomenal oral advocate" who is "able to distill complex legal topics," while providing "excellent personal service to his clients around the clock" (Chambers USA). According to The American Lawyer, clients "speak with reverence" about his dedication to their cause.
Reeves also has received accolades for his legal scholarship. His "excellent annual reviews of Supreme Court amicus practice" for the National Law Journal have been cited by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and numerous law reviews and textbooks (American Legal Process, 2d ed. 2020). His legal research and commentary have appeared in the Virginia Journal of International Law and in the preeminent science journal Nature. In 2015, he received the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform's national Research and Policy Award for "exceptional contributions to the intellectual foundation of legal reform" based on his "groundbreaking" work on extraterritorial jurisdiction and foreign-judgment enforcement.
Reeves was appointed to the firm's Pro Bono Committee in 2011. In his pro bono work, he has advocated for veterans' rights, prisoners' rights, voting rights, and parental rights, and also addressed immigration reform, gun violence prevention, religious nondiscrimination, disaster relief, and wrongful convictions. He was a member of the trial team that won a landmark civil rights verdict against the City of Denver on behalf of protesters injured by police during the 2020 protests following the death of George Floyd.
Reeves graduated as valedictorian from North Carolina State University with degrees in political science and chemistry. He earned his J.D. from Yale Law School and a Master's degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
Experience
- Packard v. Budaj, --- F.4th --- (10th Cir. 2023). Unanimous affirmance in client's favor denying qualified immunity to government officials for using unconstitutional and excessive force on protestors during the George Floyd Protests in Denver, Colorado.
- American Home Assurance Co. v. Superior Well Services, Inc., 75 F.4th 184 (3d Cir. 2023). Unanimous reversal and entry of directed judgment in client's favor in an insurance dispute over the scope of general liability coverage.
- Irizzary v. Yehia, 38 F.4th 1282 (10th Cir. 2022). Unanimous reversal of dismissal order in precedential opinion establishing a First Amendment right to film police performing their duties in public.
- Wooden v. United States, 142 S. Ct. 1063 (2022). Unanimous reversal of criminal sentence, where the Court held that offenses committed as part of a single criminal episode did not occur on different "occasions" and thus count as only one offense for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act.
- Beierwaltes v. L'Office Federale de la Cultur, 999 F.3d 808 (2d Cir. 2021). Secured dismissal on immunity grounds for the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, in US$100 million lawsuit challenging the sovereign's criminal investigation relating to ancient works of art.
- National Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Dish Network, 17 F.4th 22 (10th Cir. 2021). Secured judgment for National Union, holding that the AIG affiliate did not have a duty to defend or to indemnify Dish Network in an underlying lawsuit that awarded US$280 million in penalties and statutory damages for illegal telemarketing calls.
- Ekbatani v. Community Care Health Network, 2022 WL 31793 (11th Cir. 2022). Secured affirmance of dismissal of Clayton Act suit for failure to establish antitrust standing.
- Ballantine v. Dominican Republic, 2021 WL 5262555 (D.C. Cir. 2021). Secured win for the Dominican Republic on the basis that the petition to vacate an international arbitration award was untimely.
- Scalin v. Societe Nationale SNCF SA, 8 F.4th 509 (7th Cir. 2021). Secured affirmance of dismissal for the French national railway in a putative class action arising from alleged expropriations during World War II.
- Oracle America v. United States, No. 20-1057 (U.S. Supreme Court). Represented Oracle in petition to review a US$10 billion government contract award to provide cloud-computing services to the Department of Defense.
- Caldera v. City of Boulder, 955 F.3d 1175 (10th Cir. 2020). Secured stay of proceedings on Pullman abstention grounds for the City of Boulder, Colorado, in a high-profile Second Amendment challenge to the City's municipal ordinance that regulates the purchase and sale of assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines.
- McGirt v. Oklahoma, 140 S. Ct. 2452 (2020); Sharp v. Murphy, 140 S. Ct. 2412 (2020). Represented the State of Oklahoma in historic cases addressing tribal reservation boundaries in eastern Oklahoma.
- In re Solera Insurance Coverage Appeals, 240 A.3d 1121 (Del. 2020). Secured unanimous reversal of summary judgment based on holding that client's insurance policy did not cover a legal action to determine the fair-market value of shares after a merger transaction.
- Jacubovich v. State of Israel, 816 F. App'x 505 (2d Cir. 2020). Secured unanimous affirmance of dismissal for the Government of Israel on the basis of sovereign immunity in a long-running dispute arising out of payments of proceeds from sovereign bonds.
- BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos, 139 S. Ct. 893 (2019). Successfully represented BNSF at the merits stage, where the Supreme Court held that when a railroad company pays an employee for time lost due to an on-the-job injury, that payment is taxable compensation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act.
- In re Verizon Insurance Coverage Appeals, 222 A.3d 566 (Del. 2019). Secured unanimous reversal of summary judgment, totaling over US$80 million, in an insurance appeal concerning the scope of coverage provided to public companies in AIG's directors-and-officers insurance policies.
- Eliahu v. Jewish Agency for Israel, 919 F.3d 709 (2d Cir. 2019). Secured affirmance of dismissal on immunity and merits grounds for senior foreign government officials in RICO lawsuit and won a precedent-setting nationwide injunction prohibiting plaintiffs from filing additional lawsuits without the approval of a New York federal judge.
- Fuentes v. Zaragoza, 555 S.W.3d 141 (Tex. App. 2018). Successfully represented prominent Mexican industrialist to overturn one of the largest divorce awards in U.S. history. The underlying default judgment included US$537 million in damages and the turnover of 89 global business entities. The appellate court unanimously reversed the decree in its entirety on legal and evidentiary grounds.
- Ben Haim v. Edri, 183 A.3d 252 (N.J. App. Div. 2018). Successfully represented foreign judges and government official on question of first impression in state court on the scope of conduct-based foreign official immunity.
- Schermerhorn v. State of Israel, 876 F.3d 351 (D.C. Cir. 2017). Secured affirmance of dismissal for the State of Israel and its ministries based on sovereign immunity in lawsuit arising out of the interception of the "Gaza flotilla" in May 2010.
- Frank v. Walker, 135 S. Ct. 7 (2014). Represented petitioners in successful emergency application to reinstate injunction of Wisconsin's voter ID law for the 2014 general election.
- Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, 570 U.S. 637 (2013). Successfully represented petitioners at the certiorari and merits stages, where the Supreme Court held, 5-4, that the Indian Child Welfare Act did not preclude the firm's clients from adopting a child of Native American heritage whom they had raised since birth.
- Tarrant Regional Water Dist. v. Herrmann, 569 U.S. 614 (2013). Successfully represented respondents in an water rights dispute between Oklahoma and Texas over the Red River Compact, in which the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Oklahoma's water statutes are neither preempted by the Compact nor prohibited by the Commerce Clause.
- Marx v. General Revenue Corp., 568 U.S. 371 (2013). Successfully represented respondent at the merits stage, where the Supreme Court affirmed the right of prevailing defendants to seek litigation costs under the federal debt collections statute.
- Sea Search Armada v. Republic of Colombia, 522 F. App'x 1 (D.C. Cir. 2013). Successfully defended dismissal of all claims against the Republic of Colombia in a multibillion dollar lawsuit over the rights to recover a sunken treasure ship.
- Kloeckner v. Solis, 568 U.S. 41 (2012). Successfully represented petitioner at the certiorari and merits stages, where the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a federal employee who claims that an adverse employment action violates an antidiscrimination statute should seek judicial review in district court, not the Federal Circuit.
- WPIX, Inc. v. ivi, Inc., 691 F.3d 275 (2d Cir. 2012). Successfully represented television broadcasters on appeal in a copyright infringement suit to prevent unauthorized retransmission of TV programming over the Internet.
- Henderson v. Shinseki, 562 U.S. 428 (2011). Successfully represented petitioner at the merits stage, where the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the deadline for filing a notice of appeal with the Veterans Court does not have jurisdictional consequences.
- United States ex rel. Batiste v. SLM Corporation, 659 F.3d 1204 (D.C. Cir. 2011). Successfully defended a leading financial service provider on appeal under the False Claims Act.
Perspectives
Recognition
Litigation: General Commercial (Colorado) (2022-2023)
Credentials
Education
- J.D., Yale Law School
- M.Phil., Trinity College Dublin
- B.A./B.S., North Carolina State University
Admissions
- Colorado
- District of Columbia
- New York
- Supreme Court of the United States
- All federal courts of appeals
Clerkships
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, The Honorable Stephen C. Robinson