Paul Hughes

Practice Areas

Paul Hughes is the co-head of the Firm’s practices focusing on Supreme Court & Appellate Litigation as well as Government & Regulatory Litigation. He briefs and argues complex appeals, and he develops legal strategy before trial courts, including strategic affirmative litigation. Paul serves as an elected member of the Firm’s Management Committee.

An experienced appellate lawyer, Paul has argued 10 times at the US Supreme Court, most recently in January 2023. Having presented more than 80 arguments, Paul has appeared before en banc sittings of the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits; panels of the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, DC and Federal Circuits; several state appellate courts; and state and federal trial courts across the country.

Paul is a visiting clinical lecturer in law at the Yale Law School, where he co-directs Yale’s Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic.

In listing Paul in its nationwide rating of appellate lawyers, Chambers USA (2022) notes that he “play[s] 3D chess in litigation strategy” and “will learn your business better than you know it.” In ranking Paul as a “Leading Lawyer” in appellate practice, The Legal 500 (2021) describes Paul as “exceptionally professional, effective, and easy to work with,” an “intellectually impressive and skilled advocate,” and it explains that he “demonstrates a surprisingly high policy awareness that sets him apart in Washington.”

Recent successes at the Supreme Court include Kisor v. Wilkie, a landmark administrative law case decided in June 2019 that imposes significant limitations on the scope of agency deference. Paul has won a trio of cases expanding the scope of judicial review of agency actions in the context of immigration: In 2023, he unanimously prevailed in Santos-Zacaria v. Garland, and in 2020 he won both Nasrallah v. Barr and Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr. In Nasrallah, Paul advanced a statutory interpretation argument that had been overlooked by all ten courts of appeals to have previously addressed the issue. In 2018, Paul secured a 9-0 win in the bankruptcy case Lamar, Archer & Cofrin, LLP v. Appling, which presented a technical question of statutory interpretation.

In 2022, Paul secured victory against the SEC, setting aside its unlawful suspension of a 2020 Rule governing proxy voting advice businesses in National Association of Manufacturers v. SEC. And in 2021, Paul won complete victory invalidating four separate regulations designed to disrupt the high-skilled immigration ecosystem in U.S. Chamber of Commerce v. DHS.

Paul works across substantive areas of law. He frequently litigates challenges to administrative agency action, especially with respect to the life science industry, energy, immigration, and taxation. In 2018, Law360 named Paul an “MVP” for his intellectual property work before the Federal Circuit. Paul also has deep experience with the False Claims Act, bankruptcy, civil rights, and securities law.

Paul served as a law clerk to the Honorable Diana Gribbon Motz of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal.

View more at: https://www.mwe.com/people/hughes-paul-w/

Professional Memberships

National Police Accountability Project, board member

Work Highlights

In the Supreme Court, won a decision extending judicial review to all aspects of administrative agency decision-making over Convention Against Torture Claims. (Nasrallah v. Barr, 2020)

In the Supreme Court, won a sweeping victory providing broad judicial review over administrative agency action in the immigration context. (Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr & Ovalles v. Barr, 2020)

In the Supreme Court, secured a unanimous victory, with divided reasoning, confirming sharp limitations on the scope of agency authority (Kisor v. Wilkie, 2019)