Don Ayer is chair of Jones Day's government regulation practice. He specializes in constitutional, statutory, and regulatory litigation in trial and appellate courts and in appellate litigation covering virtually all subject matters. Don is the Firm's most experienced Supreme Court lawyer, with 17 arguments before the Court. He has argued more than 60 other appeals. His experience covers subject areas ranging from criminal appeals to business torts to a wide range of constitutional and technical statutory and regulatory issues. He also has been lead counsel in 20 federal court jury trials.

Don previously served as the deputy attorney general and principal deputy solicitor general of the United States and as the United States attorney for the Eastern District of California.

He has served as president of the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court in Washington, D.C. (2006-2007) and is presently treasurer of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He currently teaches a course in Supreme Court advocacy at Georgetown University Law Center and a Supreme Court advocacy clinic at New York University School of Law.

Don is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (appellate practice), Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in the World. He is a member of the ALI, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and serves on the advisory boards of the NYU Institute of Judicial Administration, the Georgetown law school Supreme Court Institute, the State and Local Legal Center, and the Publications Committee of the Supreme Court Historical Society.

A partial list of matters Don has handled in the United States Supreme Court appears under "Experience."