Shay Dvoretzky

Recognized nationally as a leading appellate litigator, Dvoretzky argued his 22nd and 23rd cases in the Supreme Court this term. He has been one of the most active practitioners before the Supreme Court in recent years, arguing 12 merits cases since 2020. Dvoretzky’s recent Supreme Court victories include:

• Merck v. Albrecht, in which he persuaded the Court to hold that a judge, not a jury, should assess a federal preemption defense, and should do so using ordinary, not heightened, legal standards
• GE Energy v. Outokumpu, in which he convinced the Court to hold that international arbitration agreements under the New York Convention should be treated on an equal footing with domestic ones under the Federal Arbitration Act (including as to enforcement by nonsignatories)
• Caniglia v. Strom, in which he persuaded the Court to unanimously hold that the so-called “community caretaking” exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement does not extend to the home

Dvoretzky has briefed and argued dozens of cases across virtually all federal courts of appeals. His work has spanned many substantive areas, including constitutional law, administrative law, antitrust, arbitration, bankruptcy, labor and employment, ERISA, tax, telecommunications, securities, preemption, energy, intellectual property, and criminal defense, as well as various complex statutory questions. He also leverages his appellate experience to counsel clients on key strategic issues at the trial level, and to brief and argue dispositive motions with an eye toward appeal. Dvoretzky’s recent wins in the federal courts of appeals include:

• Airlines for America v. Department of Transportation, in which he secured a unanimous (17-0) victory for Airlines for America before the en banc Fifth Circuit, convincing the court to vacate a Department of Transportation rule that dictated how airlines communicated with their customers about ancillary fees. The victory follows earlier success in obtaining a stay of the rule pending appeal because it likely exceeded the DOT’s statutory authority
• NextEra Energy v. Kingdom of Spain and 9REN Holding v. Kingdom of Spain, in which he secured a precedent-setting victory for NextEra Energy and 9REN Holding, with the D.C. Circuit ruling that the district court had jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s arbitration exception to enforce approximately €400 million in awards the companies secured against the Kingdom of Spain for violating the Energy Charter Treaty
• Naimoli v. Pro-Football, Inc., in which he convinced the Fourth Circuit, on behalf of Pro-Football, Inc. (the Washington Commanders) and WFI Stadium, Inc., to rule that, under apparent authority agency principles, the Commanders’ arbitration clause binds fans who entered a stadium using tickets presented on someone else’s smartphone

According to a recent study of Supreme Court practitioners in the last five years, Dvoretzky ranks in the uppermost echelon of advocates by number of arguments before the Court and has the highest rate of cert grants of any of these elite practitioners. 

He has an active pro bono practice that includes criminal, immigration, and constitutional cases, including his recent Supreme Court victory in Caniglia v. Strom, which restricted the authority of police to enter homes without a warrant.