Arnold & Porter Named to The National Law Journal's 2013 'Appellate Hot List'
Washington, D.C., June 10, 2013 -- Arnold & Porter LLP was recently included in The National Law Journal's (NLJ) 2013 "Appellate Hot List." The closely-watched report recognizes 20 firms that have performed significant appellate work during the previous year before the U.S. Supreme Court, federal circuit courts of appeal, and state courts of last resort.
The NLJ noted the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark indigent right to counsel decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. "The case is not just emblematic of our long-standing and heartfelt commitment to pro bono, but the briefing and argument in the case reflected the legal excellence and creativity that our firm strives for in its day-to-day work," said Arnold & Porter Chair Thomas Milch.
The emphasis on the firm's traditional commitment to pro bono work was again reflected in this year's appellate docket, said partner Lisa Blatt, who leads the firm's Appellate and Supreme Court practice. "Year in, year out, I think we have more pro bono briefs in the Supreme Court than other firms."
Counsel Anthony Franze, partner Christopher Rhee and associates R. Reeves Anderson, Sarah Harris, R. Stanton Jones and Bob Wood were mentioned by the newspaper as key members of the Arnold & Porter team during the past year.
According to the NLJ, "[Ms.] Blatt's most prominent pro bono case may have been her representation in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, a test of the Indian Child Welfare Act that has attracted wide news coverage."
The NLJ also highlighted Ms. Blatt's work in representing Oklahoma officials in a water-rights dispute case Tarrant Regional Water District v. Herrmann and Marx v. General Revenue Corp., in which she argued and won a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case on behalf of Sallie Mae subsidiary General Revenue Corp.
In addition, the newspaper observed that the firm won a "high-profile" pro bono voting rights act case late last year, challenging a Pennsylvania voter identification law before the state Supreme Court.