Law360, Bloomberg Law, Reuters and The National Law Journal were among the national media outlets that covered the Jan. 5, 2022, arrival of McGuireWoods partner and new appeals and issues team co-leader Jonathan Ellis. He joined the firm’s Complex Commercial Litigation Department in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C.
Ellis served in the Office of the Solicitor General as an assistant to the solicitor general from 2017 to 2021, where he argued nine cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and filed more than 150 briefs at the merits and certiorari stages with the high court. He previously served as a law clerk to John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States, and to Judge A. Raymond Randolph of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. With the recent arrival of Ellis and Jack White, McGuireWoods now boasts 11 former U.S. Supreme Court clerks. And over the past year and a half, the firm has added five former U.S. Department of Justice lawyers to the firm, including some who worked with Ellis.
“The opportunity to try to build on my DOJ experience to lead a truly exceptional team of appellate lawyers was a strong attraction” to join McGuireWoods, Ellis told The National Law Journal.
In an interview with Law360, he said, “I’m excited to join a powerhouse litigation team that has really been growing its appellate practice over the last several years in really meaningful ways.”
Ellis similarly lauded the firm’s appellate practice in an interview with Bloomberg.
“They’ve done the cultural work at the firm of convincing the partners that it’s worth having an appellate practice,” he said. “I’m excited to come in there and try to help the team to grow that practice, particularly the Supreme Court practice.”
David Lat deemed Ellis’ arrival as the lateral move of the week — among a “slew” of noteworthy moves during the first week of the year — in his Substack newsletter Original Jurisdiction. Politico, TheStreet and the Triangle Business Journal also published announcements on Ellis’ arrival at McGuireWoods.