Blake E. Stafford

Blake Stafford is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Latham & Watkins and a member of the firm’s Supreme Court & Appellate Practice.

Mr. Stafford represents clients in a broad range of matters in state and federal appellate courts, including the US Supreme Court. He also assists with strategic analysis and dispositive briefing in high-stakes trial court litigation and regulatory proceedings.

Mr. Stafford’s litigation experience encompasses a wide variety of substantive legal issues. He has successfully represented clients in matters involving precedent-setting questions of:

• Administrative law
• Securities regulation
• Environmental law
• Antitrust
• Constitutional law
• Torts
• Federal civil procedure
• Contract interpretation

Among his most significant wins, Mr. Stafford led the certiorari and merits briefing and served as second chair in SEC v. Cochran (2023), securing a unanimous Supreme Court victory on behalf of CPA Michelle Cochran in a decision allowing federal courts to hear structural constitutional challenges to SEC enforcement proceedings. He likewise led the briefing and obtained a unanimous Supreme Court victory on behalf of the Government of Guam in Guam v. United States (2021), a complex statutory-interpretation case involving environmental regulations.

Mr. Stafford also argued on behalf of the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates in NOVA v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (2022), successfully urging the Federal Circuit to vacate unlawful restrictions on veterans’ disability benefits imposed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. That victory followed a 2020 win in the same case before the en banc Federal Circuit, which overturned circuit precedent limiting veterans’ rights to challenge the Department of Veterans Affairs’ regulations.

Prior to joining Latham full-time, Mr. Stafford clerked for Judge Jay S. Bybee of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He earned his JD at Wake Forest University School of Law, where he graduated first in his class.

Thought Leadership

• Recurring Panelist, “Quarterly Supreme Court Update,” Federal Bar Association, Capitol Hill Chapter (2020-2021)
• Author, “US Congress Affirms and Expands SEC’s Disgorgement Authority in Annual Defense Spending Bill,” Latham & Watkins Client Alert (January 2021)
• Author, “US Supreme Court Upholds SEC’s Authority to Seek Disgorgement,” Latham & Watkins Client Alert (June 2020)
• Author, “Supreme Court to Review SEC’s Authority to Seek Disgorgement,” Latham & Watkins Client Alert (November 2019)
• Riding the Line Between “Employee” and “Independent Contractor” in the Modern Sharing Economy, 51 Wake Forest L. Rev. 1223 (2016)