Robert A. Long

Robert Long is a partner who practices in the areas of appellate litigation, antitrust, and administrative law.  He chairs the firm’s Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Group.  Mr. Long has argued 17 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and has played a substantial role in the briefing or oral argument of more than 150 cases in federal and state appellate courts.  He was a law clerk to Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  From 1990 to 1993, he served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States.  He is recognized as a leading appellate lawyer in Best Lawyers in America (also listed for administrative law, commercial litigation, banking and finance litigation, and ERISA litigation), Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers, Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers, Washingtonian "Top Lawyers," and Super Lawyers (also listed in the "Top 100" Lawyers in Washington, DC).  Mr. Long is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

Representative Matters

• United States Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida (U.S. Supreme Court 2012).  Mr. Long was appointed by the Supreme Court to brief and argue the question whether constitutional challenges to the minimum coverage provision of the Affordable Health Care Act are temporarily barred by the Anti-Injunction Act, 26 U.S.C. § 7421 (a).  The Anti-Injunction Act prohibits suits brought for the purpose of enjoining the assessment or collection of federal taxes.
• Conkright v. Frommert (U.S. Supreme Court 2010).  Mr. Long was counsel to the Xerox Corporation pension plan in this ERISA case.  The Court ruled for the Xerox Plan, holding that courts should defer to the plan administrator's good-faith interpretation of the terms of an ERISA plan, even when the plan administrator's initial interpretation was erroneous.
• Watters v. Wachovia Bank, N.A. (U.S. Supreme Court 2007).  Mr. Long was counsel to Wachovia Bank in this preemption case.  The Court ruled for Wachovia, holding that national bank operating subsidiaries are supervised exclusively by the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.  Mr. Long successfully argued this issue on behalf of the Wells Fargo Bank and National City Bank in Wells Fargo Bank N.A. v. Boutris (9th Cir. 2005) and National City Bank of Indiana v. Turnbaugh (4th Cir. 2006). 
• Bell Atlantic v. Twombly (U.S. Supreme Court 2007), Leegin Creative Leather Products v. PSKS, Inc. (U.S. Supreme Court 2007), and Texaco v. Dagher (U.S. Supreme Court 2006).  Mr. Long was counsel to the American Petroleum Institute, which filed briefs as amicus curiae in each of these antitrust cases.  Twombly concerns the standard for dismissing a complaint.  In Leegin, the Court overuled its prior decisions holding that vertical minimum resale price maintenance is a per se violation of the Sherman Act.  Dagher concerned the legal standard for antitrust analysis of joint ventures.
• In re Zyprexa Products Liability Litigation (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 2010).  Mr. Long was counsel to Eli Lilly and Company in this major class action appeal.  Plaintiffs sought billions of dollars in damages under the federal RICO statute based on allegations that Lilly made misrepresentations about the safety and efficacy of its best-selling medication Zyprexa.  The district court denied Lilly’s motion for summary judgment and certified a class of tens of thousands of insurance companies, pension funds and other “third party payor” plaintiffs.  After granting Lilly’s request for permission to take an interlocutory appeal, the court of appeals held that the case could not proceed as a class action because plaintiffs needed individualized evidence of causation and injury to prove their claims.  The court of appeals also ruled that Lilly was entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffs’ claim that the price of Zyprexa was too high.
• In re: Family Dollar FLSA Litigation (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 2011).  Mr. Long was counsel to Family Dollar Stores in this appeal under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The court of appeals held that a store manager’s primary duty was management, and that she was exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA.

Previous Experience

• Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States (1990-93)

Honors and Rankings

• Best Lawyers in America, Appellate Litigation, Administrative Law, Banking and Finance Litigation, Commercial Litigation, ERISA Litigation
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers, Appellate Litigation
• Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers, Appellate Litigation
• Legal 500, Appellate Litigation
• Washingtonian Magazine, Best Lawyers 
• Super Lawyers, Appellate and "Top 100" Lawyers in DC

Pro Bono

• Robertson v. United States ex. rel. Watson (U.S. Supreme Court 2010).  Mr. Long was counsel for the Respondent in a case that raised the question whether victims of domestic violence can pursue criminal contempt sanctions for violation of a protective order.  The Court dismissed the case, leaving the lower court's decision in favor of Respondent as the final decision in the case.
• Lopez v. Gonzales (U.S. Supreme Court 2006).  Mr. Long was counsel for Petitioner Lopez in this immigration case.  The Court ruled for Mr. Lopez, holding that a drug crime is an "aggravated felony" for immigration law purposes only if it is a felony under the federal drug laws.
• Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington, 538 U.S. 216 (2003).  Mr. Long was counsel to amicus curiae Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation.  The Court held that Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (“IOLTA”) programs do not violate the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Memberships and Affiliations

• American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, Fellow
• American Law Institute, Member
• Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court, Master (President, 2009-2010)
• Georgetown University Law Center, Adjunct Professor (Administrative Law and Solicitor General Seminar)
• University of Virginia School of Law, Lecturer (Appellate Litigation Seminar, 1998-2006)
• New York University School of Law, Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration, Board of Directors 
• Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit, Board of Directors 
• The Barker Foundation, Past President of the Board of Trustees

Publications and Speeches

• "The Good Lawyer in the 21st Century," The Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Distinguished Lecture, Washington & Lee School of Law (4/21/2011)
• "Panel Discussion on the Supreme Court," American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (11/8/2010)
• "Court Strikes Down FCC Indecency Policy," Covington E-Alert (7/14/2010), Co-Author