Gibson Dunn & Crutcher has hired a four-partner appellate litigation team from Sullivan & Cromwell (S&C) led by former acting solicitor general Jeffrey Wall.
Wall, who had been head of S&C’s appellate litigation practice, has joined alongside Morgan Ratner and Judson Littleton in Washington DC and Yaira Dubin in New York. He and Ratner had been part of the S&C team representing US President Donald Trump in a bid to overturn his New York criminal conviction for falsifying business records, though a Gibson Dunn spokesperson confirmed they will no longer represent Trump following their move.
Wall, Ratner and Dubin have collectively argued more than 45 cases before the US Supreme Court, Gibson Dunn said. Wall will co-chair the firm’s appellate and constitutional law practice, which counts more than 100 partners globally, including 11 others who have argued before the US Supreme Court.
Gibson Dunn chair and managing partner, Barbara Becker, said the incoming partners were among the most respected appellate advocates in the US.
“Their arrival will represent a powerful addition to our litigation platform, further strengthening our ability to lead clients through their most consequential matters,” she added.
Wall served as acting solicitor general during the first Trump administration, between stints at S&C. He has argued 30 cases before the Supreme Court in areas including securities, class actions, arbitration, IP, taxation, bankruptcy, separation of powers and criminal law, among others.
Meanwhile, Ratner joined S&C as special counsel in 2021 after four years in the Office of the Solicitor General, where she argued Supreme Court cases involving areas of federal law such as securities regulation, bankruptcy, employment, IP, criminal law and elections law.
Late last year, she and Wall secured a major win for Tesla in the Delaware Supreme Court, persuading the court to reinstate a controversial incentive compensation plan worth more than $50bn for Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
They were also part of the S&C team defending Trump against charges that he falsified business records to cover up a $130,000 payment made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in 2016 by his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in return for her silence about allegations of a sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
Trump pleaded not guilty but was convicted by a unanimous New York jury on 34 felony counts related to the charges in May 2024. He was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, meaning he served no jail time and did not have to pay a fine. Trump appealed the conviction late last year.
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