It was announced earlier today that Derek L. Shaffer will be joining the law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP as a partner in its office in Washington D.C. Shaffer has worked on cases involving the government and questions regarding constitutional and statutory law. Shaffer has expert experience with cases involving the United States and its agencies in disputes. The Stanford Constitutional Law Center was launched and run by Shaffer, who worked as their first Executive Director. He was in charge of student teams that worked with constitutional litigation and educational projects. Shaffer left Cooper & Kirk PLLC to join Quinn Emanuel.
As of March 6, Shaffer has worked as a representative for six states in the U.S. while appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. courts of appeals and district courts and state supreme courts. He has also argued cases in front of administrative tribunals and the NCAA.
“Derek’s accomplishments speak for themselves. A lawyer of his acumen will be a great asset in cases which have any constitutional law dimensions,” said John Quinn, the law firm’s managing partner, according to a press release from the law firm.
Jon Corey, the co-chair of the Washington D.C. office, said, “We are fortunate to have Derek as a partner in our D.C. office. In addition to his trial experience, he will enhance our national appellate practice.”
Some of the features from Shaffer’s career include the following:
- The acquisition of a $20 million settlement in a confidential case involving intellectual property disputes between private entities.
- In front of a three-judge panel for a district court, he represented the National Rifle Association. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court and was titled McConnell v. FEC, which dealt with a challenge to the first amendment when dealing with campaign finance reforms.
Shaffer graduated from the College of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in 1996 at the top of his class. At graduation he was also recognized as one of the country’s top policy debaters. Shaffer graduated in 2000 from the Stanford Law School at the top of his class, earning the Nathan Abbott Scholar. Following his graduation he clerked for Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg in the District of Columbia Circuit.
The hiring of Shaffer comes on the heels of another major hire by Quinn Emanuel. William Burck was recently hired by Quinn Emanuel in January to become the co-manager of the office in Washington D.C. with Jon Corey.