Seth M. Galanter

Seth M. Galanter is Of Counsel in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office and practices in the Appellate Practice Group of the Litigation Department. Mr. Galanter’s primary focus is on Supreme Court and appellate litigation. He has argued more than 40 cases in the federal courts of appeals, including in eleven of the twelve regional courts of appeals. The cases have involved a range of issues, including the constitutional limits of federal authority under the Commerce Clause and Spending Clause, the prerequisites for administrative deference, the availability of private rights of action under federal statutes, and the scope and interpretation of federal disability and voting rights laws. His recent work has involved banking, energy law, and intellectual property matters, as well as general statutory and constitutional litigation. Mr. Galanter recently argued a case in the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the scope of an important attorneys’ fee statute. Mr. Galanter worked at the United States Department of Justice from 1994 until 2002. He initially served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General. He later worked as an appellate attorney in the Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division where he briefed and argued cases in the courts of appeals. Mr. Galanter also worked closely with the Office of the Solicitor General in the preparation of briefs and argument for cases pending in the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Galanter was recently appointed by DC Mayor Adrian Fenty to serve on the newly constituted District of Columbia Commission on Persons with Disabilities. He was chosen for his experience with and demonstrated interest in issues that impact persons with disabilities. Mr. Galanter has also been named by the DC Bar as 2008 Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year, in recognition of his unwavering commitment to advocate for individuals and organizations in matters that present novel and complex legal issues. Mr. Galanter served as a law clerk to the Honorable Dolores K. Sloviter, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Galanter received his B.A. degree from Columbia College in 1990 and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1993, where he served as an Articles Editor on the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and graduated with high honors. Mr. Galanter is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. He is also a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, District of Columbia, and Federal Circuits.