Financial Times Recognizes Arnold & Porter with 2018 Innovative Lawyers Award

Arnold & Porter won the Financial Times award for Innovative Lawyers in the category of Rule of Law and Access to Justice for pro bono work in a high-profile gerrymandering lawsuit in Pennsylvania. In a groundbreaking February 2018 decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in favor of Arnold & Porter's pro bono clients in League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth, striking down Pennsylvania's congressional districting map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.

Arnold & Porter's clients, which included 18 individual petitioners and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, contended that the state's 2011 congressional map discriminated against voters on the basis of their political viewpoints and undermined the electoral process by denying voters a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. 

The Arnold & Porter team litigated the case at an accelerated pace to ensure that there would be a new, fair congressional map in place for Pennsylvania's 2018 primaries. In just over four months, the team conducted all pretrial proceedings, tried the case, briefed, argued and won in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, successfully opposed two rounds of emergency applications asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the state high court's decision until after the elections, and secured the dismissal of a new lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania Republicans in federal court collaterally attacking the state court's ruling. 

The Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards takes a look at the originality, leadership, and impact of a law firm's work.

Arnold & Porter associates Elisabeth Theodore and Daniel Jacobson took leading roles at trial along with partner John Freedman and senior counsel David Gersch. Partner Stanton Jones led the brief-writing team and Mr. Gersch argued the case in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.