Tell us about your top U.S. Supreme Court or federal appeals court victory or victories over the past year and how you and your team achieved the win.
The unanimous Supreme Court win in Byrd v. United States was a highlight. Byrd presented an issue that split lower courts 7-7: Whether a driver not listed on a rental agreement can object to a suspicionless search of a rental car. We demonstrated in our briefs that, as a matter of law and common sense, contract violations do not support the loss of Fourth Amendment rights. My moot courts forecasted an argument with rapid-fire hypotheticals, and so it was. The keys were to answer the hypos crisply, weave my answers into our major themes and not get bogged down on minor issues. After a contentious argument, I was only certain of two votes in our favor, and was happily surprised later by the unanimous ruling.
How did your firm approach appellate success over the past year?
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