Richard Bress focuses his practice on appellate and Supreme Court litigation. He has handled a broad range of cases for a diverse client base, including the United States House of Representatives, AOL, The Capital Group Companies, DirecTV, E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company, Inc., HCA, Mirant, Molten Corporation, PG&E, Sithe Energies and the Calvary Chapel ministry. He has argued dozens of appellate cases, including seven in the Supreme Court. Mr. Bress is also a frequent commentator on appellate advocacy issues.
Mr. Bress is recognized as one of the top US appellate and Supreme Court advocates by Legal 500, which has described him as "'a great litigator' who 'provides great representation'" and whose "resume displays an impressive range of experience at the top level." He was also recognized by Washingtonian magazine in 2007 as one of the Washington, D.C.'s "Big Guns," a list of the area's top lawyers, based primarily on peer recommendation.
Mr. Bress has experience litigating appeals in the Supreme Court and courts of appeals in a broad range of matters, including:
constitutional, statutory, and administrative challenges to federal agency rules and orders, particularly those involving EPA, FERC, FCC, HHS and HUD
challenges to laws and regulations affecting commercial speech
judgments under the federal securities and antitrust laws, and ERISA
challenges to punitive damages awards
patent, Lanham Act and other intellectual property disputes
challenges to governmental takings of private property
disputes over government contracts
Before joining Latham, Mr. Bress served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States. During his tenure in the Solicitor General's Office, he argued several cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, drafted more than 100 briefs (including petitions for and briefs in opposition to certiorari) and assisted the Solicitor General in developing the government's position on a broad range of constitutional and commercial issues in the Supreme Court and the federal courts of appeals.
Prior to his work in the Solicitor General's Office, Mr. Bress spent several years in private practice, engaged primarily in general and appellate litigation. Before entering private practice, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Antonin Scalia and D.C. Circuit Judge Stephen F. Williams.
Mr. Bress is admitted to the bars of the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Federal and D.C. Circuits and the Court of Federal Claims.