Since the inception of the practice in 1985, the team, including more than 30 former Supreme Court clerks, has briefed over 225 cases on the merits and argued 124 cases before the Court. The firm has represented clients on virtually every type of federal legal issue before the Court.
Recent Terms
Sidley has played a significant role in every recent Term of the Supreme Court.
- October 2018 Term: Sidley presented oral argument in Bucklew v. Precythe, Northwestern University School of Law - U.S. v. Davis, PDR Network, LLC. V. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic Inc., and Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas.
- October 2017 Term: Sidley presented oral argument as an amicus in Animal Science Products v. Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Company.
- October 2016 Term: Sidley presented oral argument in Life Technologies Corp. v. Promega Corp., Dean v. United States, and Jennings v. Rodriguez.
- October 2015 Term: Sidley presented oral argument in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, EnerNOC v. Electric Power Supply Ass’n, and Kansas v. Carr.
- October 2014 Term: Sidley presented oral argument in 3 cases, represented a party in an additional 4 cases on the merits, and filed briefs on behalf of amici in 12 cases on the merits.
- October 2013 Term: Sidley presented oral argument in 6 cases, represented a party in 10 cases on the merits, and filed briefs on behalf of amici in 9 cases on the merits.
- October 2012 Term: Sidley successfully argued one case, and represented a party in three cases and amici in nine cases on the merits.
- October 2011 Term: Our lawyers argued six cases with no losses in the Supreme Court.
- October 2010 Term: We represented parties in nine cases on the merits—including the high-profile global warming case— and amici in 15 others.
Sidley’s Recent Supreme Court Victories
- Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency, 135 S. Ct. 889 (2014): Representing petitioners, Sidley successfully argued that the EPA has no authority to impose permitting obligations on a source based solely on its emissions of greenhouse gases.
- Air Wisconsin Airlines Corp. v. Hoeper, 134 S. Ct. 1575 (2014): The Court overturned a ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court that our client, Air Wisconsin, had defamed the plaintiff by submitting a materially accurate report to the Transportation Security Administration.
- Maracich v. Spears, 133 S. Ct. 2191 (2013): Sidley’s clients had sued class-action lawyers who had obtained, without their consent, personal information from the South Carolina DMV in order to solicit plaintiffs for a lawsuit. The Court adopted Sidley’s arguments that the lawyer’ solicitations were not permitted under the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA).
- Southern Union Co. v. United States, 132 S. Ct. 2344 (2012): Ruling for Sidley client Southern Union Co., the Court held that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial required that the jury, rather than the judge, find any facts necessary to increase the fine imposed in a criminal case. The Court overturned the district court’s order imposing an $18 million penalty, a $6 million fine and $12 million in community service obligations.
- FCC v. Fox, 132 S. Ct. 2307 (2012): In a victory for broadcast networks, the Supreme Court held that the FCC’s broadcast indecency policy is unconstitutionally vague. The case involved two live television awards shows that Fox broadcast during which celebrities uttered so-called “fleeting expletives.”
- Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter, No. 132 S. Ct. 2181 (2012): Sidley client Ramah Navajo Chapter and other tribes prevailed in this case under the Contract Disputes Act after the U.S. Department of the Interior failed to pay all costs under tribal contracts. The Department had argued that a congressional cap on tribal reimbursements excused it from meeting its contractual obligations.
- Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington, 132 S. Ct. 1510 (2012): Sidley client Essex County, New Jersey, prevailed in this case when the Court held that jail policies requiring strip searches of all inmates before they are admitted to the general jail population did not violate the Fourth Amendment.
- Roberts v. Sea-Land Services, Inc., 132 S. Ct. 1350 (2012): The Court ruled for Sidley’s client in this case considering the maximum compensation rate for disabled workers under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.
- KPMG LLP v. Cocchi, 132 S. Ct. 23 (2011): Sidley client KPMG prevailed in this case in which the Court held that courts must enforce arbitration agreements even if the plaintiff’s complaint contains some nonarbitrable claims.
- American Electric Power Co., Inc, v. Connecticut, 131 S. Ct. 2527 (2011): Sidley successfully represented American Electric Power in this high-profile case in which the Court held that the Clean Air Act displaces any federal common law right to seek abatement of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants, even where the federal government has not exercised its regulatory authority. The leading Supreme Court blog called this litigation “the biggest-ever case on the issue of global warming.”
- General Dynamics Corp. v. United States; Boeing Corp. v. United States, 131 S. Ct. 1900 (2011): The Court ruled for Sidley’s clients and overturned an award of approximately $3 billion to the U.S. Government in a contract dispute involving a Navy aircraft, finding that the Government could not invoke the state secrets privilege to prevent the disclosure of classified information necessary to our clients’ defense against the Government’s claim for payment.
- CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Alabama Department of Revenue, 131 S. Ct. 1101 (2011): Under the federal Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976, Sidley client CSX Transportation, Inc. successfully challenged taxes imposed on it by the State of Alabama. The Act bars states from discriminating against railroads in taxation.