Lawyer Overview

Christopher Meade is a partner in the Litigation and Securities Departments, and a member of the Appellate and Supreme Court Practice Group.

Practice

Mr. Meade's practice consists of representing major financial institutions in complex commercial litigation in federal and state court. He also has an active appellate practice, in which he represents clients in the US Supreme Court and other appellate courts. Mr. Meade has argued in the US Supreme Court and in the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Ninth Circuits. He has authored or co-authored over 50 appellate briefs, and has been counsel of record or co-counsel in the US Supreme Court on merits briefs, amicus briefs, petitions for certiorari, and briefs in opposition to certiorari. Mr. Meade's appellate experience extends over a broad range of areas, including constitutional law, securities, intellectual property, bankruptcy, banking and immigration.

Mr. Meade has argued before the US Supreme Court twice during the last two Terms. His most recent Supreme Court argument was on January 8, 2008 in Dada v. Mukasey, 06-1181 (counsel of record) (case pending).

Among his significant appellate victories are the following: Mr. Meade represented Mr. St. Cyr in INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289 (2001) (co-counsel with the ACLU), in which the Supreme Court issued an important ruling on federal court jurisdiction and also held that Congress had not applied a detrimental change in law retroactively to Mr. St. Cyr. Then, in Ponnapula v. Ashcroft, 373 F.3d 480 (3d Cir. 2004), Mr. Meade successfully argued that the holding of St. Cyr should be extended to another class of immigrants. He was also part of the WilmerHale team in In re Integrated Telecom Express, Inc., 384 F.3d 108 (3d Cir. 2004) (with Seth Waxman and Craig Goldblatt), in which the Third Circuit held that the Chapter 11 petition at issue was not a "good faith" bankruptcy filing. Mr. Meade also reached a settlement with the government in a Second Circuit immigration appeal in which the government agreed to permit his client, who had already been deported, to return to the United States.

Recent Highlights

Mr. Meade's recent experience includes:

• Arguing before the US Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvarez, 05-1629 (counsel of record) (December 2006)
• Invited by the Ninth Circuit, sua sponte, to present oral argument before the en banc court in U.S. v. Vidal (en banc) (15 member court)
• Filing an amicus brief in the US Supreme Court in Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientic-Atlanta, Inc. (with Seth Waxman, Bob McCaw, Lou Cohen, and Stuart Delery) (arguing that 10b-5 liability should not be expanded)
• Providing analysis and advice on US Supreme Court procedure and practice, as well as advice pertaining to pending cases. For example: Advised a hedge fund client on the likelihood of the US Supreme Court granting certiorari in a case involving a massive damages award, and advised a client on the implications of the grant of certiorari in a dormant Commerce Clause case
• Defending a major financial institution in a 10b-5 action involving research analyst reports
• Successfully petitioning the Second Circuit to grant interlocutory review, under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f), to review a class certification order in a securities case
• Filing briefs in the Second Circuit arguing that the fraud-on-the-market presumption of Basic v. Levinson should not be extended to apply to the third-party statements of research analysts (case pending)
• Filing a brief in the Federal Circuit in a patent case, seeking affirmance of the district court's claim construction and judgment of noninfringement (case pending)
• Filing briefs in the Federal Circuit, arguing, inter alia, that the jury's award in a patent case was grossly excessive
• Filing a brief in the US Supreme Court on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), NYSDA Immigrants' Defense Project, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Immigrant Legal Resource Center, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and National Legal Aid and Defender Association in Lopez v. Gonzalez, 05-547, and Toledo-Flores v. United States, 05-7664 (counsel of record); the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the immigrant, and held that the crime at issue was not an "aggravated felony" under the immigration laws
• Filing an amicus brief in the New York State Court of Appeals on behalf of international, national and local banking associations in Regatos v. North Fork Bank
• Supervising briefs filed in the Second Circuit involving a prisoner's right to DNA evidence to establish innocence; the Second Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal and remanded for further proceedings, including for consideration of whether there is a constitutional right to DNA evidence, McKitthen v. Brown; opposed government’s petition for certiorari (pending)
• Filing a petition for certiorari in the US Supreme Court in Sanchez-Villalobos v. United States, 05-484 (counsel of record)
• Regular participant in moot courts for US Supreme Court and court of appeals arguments

Professional Activities

Mr. Meade is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Honors and Awards

Mr. Meade has received numerous awards and designations including:

• Included in Super Lawyers (appellate) (New York Metro edition, 2007) (see www.superlawyers.com for criteria)
• Empire State Counsel, New York State Bar Association (2007)
• Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Award for Outstanding Service (2005)
• President's Pro Bono Service Award, New York State Bar Association (2003)
• John H. Pickering Pro Bono Award, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering LLP (2001)
• Pro Bono Society, Association of the Bar of the City of New York (2001 to 2004)
• Skadden Fellowship with the American Civil Liberties Union (1998 - 2000)

Speaking Engagements

Mr. Meade recently taught a program on US Supreme Court certiorari practice at the Association of the Bar for the City of New York ("Persuading the US Supreme Court to Take (or not Take) a Case: Petitions for Certiorari and Briefs in Opposition"). He has also presented at NYU Law School on the "Supreme Court at the Crossroads," focusing on separation of powers and the war on terrorism.

Community Involvement

Mr. Meade serves on the board of directors of the Urban Justice Center, as well as the board of directors of Partnership for Children's Rights (formerly Legal Services for Children). He was also a member of the Dean's Strategic Council at NYU School of Law.

Areas of practice

• Litigation
• Securities
• Securities Enforcement
• Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation

West Practice Categories

Securities Fraud & Insider Trading, Securities Law

Bar Admissions

New York

Education

New York University School of Law, 1996
JD
Honors: magna cum laude
Princeton University, 1990
BA
Honors: magna cum laude

Address

399 Park Avenue
New York, NY10022

Phones

+1 212 230 8817 (Business Phone)

Faxes

+1 212 230 8888 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Internet Urls

http://www.wilmerhale.com/