Why Gibson Dunn Keeps Winning in the Supreme Court
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has achieved an impressive record in the past three terms at the U.S. Supreme Court. It has won eight out of 11 cases.
The reasons for that record include the firm’s impressive appellate litigators, its loose organizational structure and the strength of its cases, the National Law Journal reports.
A co-leader of the firm’s appellate group is former Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who represented George W. Bush in the case over the disputed election. He also helped with confirmation advice for Supreme Court nominees John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr. His understanding of the justices, gained from years of experience, helps him craft arguments that will appeal to the majority.
“We work hard to give the court our best analysis to find the way that at least five justices will agree with our approach to the case,” Olson told the legal newspaper. “You can’t win every case, but we try to win as many as we can.”
The law firm has a nonhierarchical organization and allows any lawyer to work in the appellate group, bringing in fresh ideas and viewpoints, the newspaper says. It also looks for unexplored or undeveloped weaknesses in cases it is seeking to overturn.
But other lawyers who have both opposed and worked with Gibson Dunn told the NLJ that even the best of law firms can’t overcome bad facts and law.
Gibson Dunn “can’t pull rabbits out of their hats” any more than other appellate lawyers, said Steven Mayer, director of the litigation department at Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin.
