With a team of former public servants, we are uniquely positioned to assist government clients in protecting the public from harm. Collectively, we have decades of high-level government investigation, litigation, and trial experience. Our team includes the former Vermont Solicitor General, the former Tobacco Enforcement Section Chief of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and a former Special Counsel to the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
We take immense pride in representing and advising public clients. Our strong working relationships with public entities allow us to work collaboratively and effectively. We have represented states, cities, and counties in investigations, arbitration, and litigation.
The majority of our attorneys have worked in public service or the non-profit sector, and our shared expertise spans appellate, public health, tax, consumer protection, and environmental work. We focus on cases with significant public impact, and work to support state and local governments in their efforts to protect the public from unfair and deceptive behavior, prevent misuse of taxpayer dollars through false claims, and ensure equitable access to health care.
Our current and past representations include:
- Representing the State of New Mexico in a $37 million arbitration against major tobacco companies.
- Representing 192 members of Congress in filing a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in West Virginia v EPA, defending EPA’s broad power to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
- Representing a coalition of 35 states in filing a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in Microsoft v. United States, concerning tech companies’ obligation to comply with probable-cause based subpoenas for data stored on overseas servers.
- Successfully defending numerous state statutes against constitutional challenges in state and federal court.
- Representing Vermont in high-profile multistate litigation, including California v. Texas (upholding the Affordable Care Act), Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of University of California (invalidating rescission of DACA program), and New York v. Department of Commerce (blocking inclusion of citizenship question on 2020 Census).
- Co-leading 40 states’ coordinated investigation into the opioid crisis and role of the “big three” opioid distributors.
- Co-leading investigations of NYC landlords for violations of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention law.
- Leading federal litigation brought by twelve state Attorneys General against the Department of Labor challenging the Association Health Plan Rule, which sought to exempt a significant portion of the health insurance market from the ACA's consumer protections.
- Leading the New York Attorney General’s case against United Parcel Service, Inc., alleging the carrier’s unlawful delivery of contraband cigarettes, including a two-week federal trial and obtaining a final judgment and combined award of $247 million in damages and penalties—the largest award of its kind and the largest monetary award obtained by the New York Attorney General’s Office at trial.
- Prosecuting New York’s first False Claims Act case arising from a failure to pay prevailing wages.
- Representing two Colorado counties and a municipality in a public nuisance climate change lawsuit against Exxon and Suncor.
- Serving as court-appointed special counsel to prosecute attorney discipline cases.
