Attorney Profiles

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Thomas C. Goldstein has argued 25 cases before the Supreme Court, including matters involving federal patent law, class action practice, labor and employment, and disability law. In addition to practicing law, Tom teaches Supreme Court Litigation at both Stanford and Harvard Law Schools.

In the Supreme Court and elsewhere, Mr. Goldstein litigates and advises clients in a broad range of issues. For example, he regularly litigates and lectures on questions of federal patent law. Mr. Goldstein frequently advises clients, litigates, and consults on legislative matters relating to the First Amendment. And he regularly represents parties in questions relating to the game of poker, including its lawfulness as a matter of federal and state law.

In addition to practicing law, Tom founded, and is the publisher of, SCOTUSblog, which in 2010 became the only weblog ever to receive the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award for fostering the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system.

Tom has been repeatedly recognized as a leading member of the bar. In 2010, The National Law Journal named him one of the 40 most influential lawyers of the decade; Tom notably was ten years younger than any other law firm partner listed. Legal Times named him one of the “90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years” and praised him for “transforming the practice” of law before the Supreme Court. He is also included in the National Law Journal’s current list of the nation’s 100 most influential lawyers. He has been repeatedly recognized as one of the nation’s top appellate advocates. GQ Magazine named him one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington, D.C.

Tom is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He is involved with a number of professional organizations. He serves as the vice chair of the Amicus Committee of the ABA’s Intellectual Property Section and previously served for two years on the ABA’s Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs. In those capacities, he has authored several Supreme Court amicus briefs for the ABA. In addition, Tom serves on the boards of advisors of the Washington Legal Foundation and the Georgetown University Supreme Court Institute.

Before founding Goldstein & Howe in 1999, Tom practiced law at Boies & Schiller, LLP and at Jones Day Reavis & Pogue. Tom left the firm he founded in 2006 to create the Supreme Court Practice at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, where he also was a partner and principal co-chair of the firmwide litigation practice. He returned to what is now Goldstein & Russell in 2011.

Tom clerked for the Honorable Patricia M. Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Supreme Court Arguments

• Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., April 16, 2011
• Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, October 12, 2011
• Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., April 26, 2011
• Hamilton v. Lanning, June 7, 2010
• Republic of Iraq v. Beaty; Republic of Iraq v. Simon, April 20, 2009
• Cone v. Bell, December 9, 2008
• Jimenez v. Quarterman, November 4, 2008
• Virginia v. Moore, January 14, 2008
• KSR International v. Teleflex, November 28, 2006
• Georgia v. Randolph, November 8, 2005
• IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez, October 3, 2005
• National Cable and Telecomm. Ass’n v. Brand X Internet Services, March 29, 2005
• Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd., February 28, 2005
• Smith v. City of Jackson, Miss., November 3, 2004
• F. Hoffman-LaRoche, Ltd. v. Empagran S.A., April 26, 2004
• Central Laborers' Pension Fund v. Heinz, April 19, 2004
• Lamie v. United States Trustee, November 10, 2003
• Clay v. United States, January 13, 2003
• United States v. Bean, October 16, 2002
• Devlin v. Scardelletti, March 16, 2002
• Bartnicki v. Vopper, December 5, 2000
• Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, November 8, 2000
• Norfolk Southern R. Co. v. Shanklin, March 1, 2000
• Los Angeles Police Dept. v. United Reporting Publishing Corp., October 13, 1999
• Cunningham v. Hamilton County, OH, April 19, 1999

Written Works

• "SCOTUSblog", Updated regularly
• Identifying the Harm in Racial Gerrymandering Claims, 1 Mich. J. Race & L. 47 (1996) (with Samuel Issacharoff)
• Go East Young Lawyers: The Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, 7 J. App. Practice & Proc. 207 (2005) (with Pamela S. Karlan and Amy Howe)
• But How Will The People Know?  Public Opinion As A Meager Influence In Shaping Contemporary Supreme Court Decision Making (Michigan Law Review)

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia
• Maryland

Court Admissions

• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S.C.A., 2nd Circuit
• U.S.C.A., 3rd Circuit
• U.S.C.A., 4th Circuit
• U.S.C.A., 5th Circuit
• U.S.C.A., 6th Circuit
• U.S.C.A., 11th Circuit
• U.S.C.A., D.C. Circuit
• U.S.C.A., Federal Circuit

Clerkships

• U.S.C.A., DC Circuit

Education

• J.D., American University, Washington College of Law, summa cum laude, 1995
• A.B., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1992