Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General Joins Ropes & Gray to Lead Appellate & Supreme Court Practice

Ropes & Gray today announced that Douglas Hallward-Driemeier has joined the firm as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office*. Mr. Hallward-Driemeier, formerly an assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States, will lead the firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice.

Mr. Hallward-Driemeier has spent more than a decade handling appeals and Supreme Court litigation for the U.S. Department of Justice. As an assistant to the Solicitor General from 2004-09, Mr. Hallward-Driemeier argued 13 cases before the Supreme Court and filed briefs in more than 150 cases. Many of these matters were of particular interest to the business community, including

• Credit Suisse v. Billing, concerning the immunity of IPO underwriters from antitrust liability,
• Merck v. Reynolds, relating to the statute of limitations for securities fraud claims, and
• MGM v. Grokster, regarding secondary liability of file-sharing services for copyright infringement.

In addition, Mr. Hallward-Driemeier briefed or argued six merits cases concerning the immunity of foreign states from suit in U.S. courts, and, at the petition stage, authored the government’s brief in American Isuzu Motors v. Ntsbeza, addressing when multinational corporations can be sued under the Alien Tort Statute for their business activities in foreign countries.

Before joining the Solicitor General’s office, Mr. Hallward-Driemeier spent more than five years as an attorney with the DoJ’s Civil Appellate Staff, where he argued appeals before all of the federal circuit courts of appeals. During this time he received the Department of State’s Superior Honor Award for his successful representation of the U.S. in numerous appeals involving World War II-era claims. Mr. Hallward-Driemeier started his legal career as an associate at Ropes & Gray.

“Doug’s wealth of experience in the Supreme Court and other appellate courts across the country make him an invaluable resource for our clients,” Robert Fischler, head of Ropes & Gray’s Litigation department, said. “We are privileged to have him as part of our Appellate and Supreme Court practice.”

“I am honored to return to Ropes & Gray, a firm that is well recognized for legal excellence and a client base that includes leading companies and decision-makers from around the globe,” Mr. Hallward-Driemeier said. “I look forward to contributing my appellate expertise to the firm's continued success on behalf of these clients.”

Mr. Hallward-Driemeier graduated magna cum laude in 1994 from Harvard Law School, where he was a Supervising Editor of the Harvard Law Review. After law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Amalya L. Kearse on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, earning an M. Phil. in Politics in 1991. In addition, Mr. Hallward-Driemeier earned a B.A., summa cum laude, in Political Science from DePauw University.

 
*Practice limited to federal courts (not admitted in D.C.).