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Michael S. Nadel is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office. As a member of the Trial Department, Michael’s practice focuses on complex trial and appellate litigation.
Michael concentrates his practice on corporate and constitutional disputes. In his corporate litigation practice, Michael has participated in controversies involving patent infringement, antitrust, insurance and reinsurance coverage, tax, health care fraud, and other contract and tort controversies, including nationwide class actions.
Michael’s constitutional practice typically involves assisting corporate clients by filing suit against the federal government or state and local governments to invalidate problematic statutes and regulations. Michael has litigated constitutional controversies involving the takings clause, the First Amendment, the commerce clause, the due process clause, the equal protection clause and retroactivity. Michael has also litigated novel questions of jurisdiction, standing, arbitrability and abstention.
Recent Litigation Successes
Prevailed on all counts in a two-week federal jury trial and a separate bench trial in high-profile Blackboard v. Desire2Learn patent litigation in the Eastern District of Texas.
Secured favorable settlement in well-publicized commercial arbitration between Computer Sciences Corporation and Sears Holdings Company arising from the termination of an information technology outsourcing agreement. Sears publicly valued the eve-of-trial settlement at $75 million.
Prevailed in two cases in the U.S. Supreme Court: Beck v. PACE, which involved the fiduciary duties of an ERISA plan administrator, and Federal Election Commission v. WRTL, which involved free speech under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.
Published Litigation Matters
FEC v. WRTL, 127 C. Ct. 2652 (2007) (finding McCain-Feingold campaign finance law unconstitutional in an as-applied challenge regarding issue advocacy)
Beck v. PACE Int’l Union, 127 S. Ct. 2310 (2007) (holding that employer that sponsored and administered a pension plan did not violate its fiduciary duties under ERISA)
WRTL v. FEC, 546 U.S. 410 (2006) (reinstating an as-applied challenge to the issue ad prohibition in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law)
Gutierrez v. Ada, 528 U.S. 250 (2000) (upholding the results of Guam’s gubernatorial election) (as sole amicus)
Mt. McKinley Insurance Co. v. Corning Inc., 399 F.3d 436 (2d Cir. 2005) (finding jurisdiction to hear appeal under collateral order doctrine and rejecting abstention arguments in an insurance coverage matter with bankruptcy implications)
Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation v. Filan, 392 F.3d 934 (7th Cir. 2004) (striking down as an unconstitutional taking Illinois's attempt to seize $125 million from a non-profit foundation to close the state budget gap)
Aptix Corp. v. Quickturn Design Systems, 269 F.3d 1369 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (holding that a court may not strip a patent holder of its patent based on litigation misconduct)
Voting Integrity Project v. Keisling, 259 F.3d 1169 (9th Cir. 2001) (challenging Oregon’s unrestricted early voting system as conflicting with the Federal Election Day Statutes)
GHS Health Maintenance Organization v. United States, 76 Fed. Cl. 339 (2007) (invalidating regulation promulgated under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act)
City of Tempe v. FAA, 239 F. Supp. 2d 55 (D.D.C. 2003) (denying a preliminary injunction to bar construction of a new runway at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport)
Coors Brewing Company v. Calderon, 225 F. Supp. 2d 22 (D.D.C. 2002) (challenging a Puerto Rican tax exemption for locally brewed beer under the dormant commerce clause)
Bioganic Safety Brands, Inc. v. Ament, 174 F. Supp. 2d 1168 (D. Colo. 2001) (enjoining Colorado from enforcing a labeling regulation that violated the dormant commerce clause of the Constitution)
Molinari v. Powers, 82 F. Supp. 2d 57 (E.D.N.Y. 2000) (ordering the inclusion of John McCain and other candidates on the ballot of the 2000 New York Republican Presidential Primary)
Harvey v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, 805 A.2d 1061 (Md. 2002) (striking down a Maryland statute that permitted HMOs to engage in subrogation as violative of constitutional restrictions on retroactivity)
Michael is admitted to practice before the Courts of Appeals of Maryland and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Second, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Federal, and D.C. Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the District of Maryland and the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
Education
George Washington University Law School, J.D., 1999
University of Pennsylvania, B.A., 1996 | 