Martin, Thomas Ward

Paul Wolfson is a partner in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation and Government and Regulatory Litigation Practice Groups. He joined the firm in 1988.

Practice

Mr. Wolfson's practice focuses on Supreme Court and appellate litigation, and on advising clients on complex issues of federal law, especially constitutional law.

Mr. Wolfson has argued 19 cases in the United States Supreme Court and has also argued before six federal courts of appeals. Before joining the firm, Mr. Wolfson worked for eight years in the Solicitor General’s Office, where he received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for “exemplary representation of the United States before the Supreme Court.”

Since joining WilmerHale, Mr. Wolfson has represented parties and amici curiae in numerous Supreme Court cases, including several of the Supreme Court’s most important recent cases, such as eBay v. MercExchange, LLC (standards for injunctions in patent cases); Lingle v. Chevron USA, Inc (standards for takings); Beneficial National Bank v. Anderson (preemption under the National Bank Act); Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC (preemption under FIFRA); Watson v. Philip Morris Companies (federal removal jurisdiction); McConnell v. FEC (constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act), and Boumediene v. Bush (challenging the detention of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay). In the courts of appeals and district courts, Mr. Wolfson has a diverse practice, representing companies both pursuing and defending against patent-infringement claims in the Federal Circuit, a governmental agency defending against a sanctions award, and a university defending against efforts to attach antiquities in its collection. He successfully represented Rambus Inc. before the DC Circuit in its challenge to a ruling of the Federal Trade Commission that Rambus had violated the antitrust laws. He is also very active in pro bono matters and currently represents the Texas chapter of the NAACP defending the constitutionality of the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.

Professional Activities

• American Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar Association
• Chair, Amicus Brief Committee, ABA Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section

Honors and Awards

• Recognized as a leader in appellate law in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers in Business
• Selected by peers for inclusion in the 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, in the area of appellate law.