James D. Nelson

James’s practice focuses on complex civil disputes, including class action and consumer litigation, labor and employment, white collar, antitrust, and legacy liability litigation. He has experience in employment classification cases, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) disputes, arbitration-related issues, and technology law (including Section 230). James provides appellate-level advocacy from the beginning of cases, advising on strategy before trial, leading pre-trial briefing teams, assisting with trial strategy, and handling appeals from briefing to oral argument throughout the United States.

James helps clients navigate difficult procedural, statutory, and constitutional questions, including regarding personal jurisdiction, federal preemption, the dormant commerce clause, and interlocutory appeals. Clients trust him to understand their business needs and provide quick insights on the best path forward for resolving their disputes, including based on his deep knowledge of federal courts and appellate procedure, and his ability to work across industries and Morgan Lewis practices to provide seamless and excellent client service.

• Secured Third Circuit affirmance of an order holding that six judgment creditors of Venezuela could attach property of a state-owned oil company given alter-ego status under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and secured denial of cert petition by the Supreme Court in same case
• Secured summary judgment and affirmance of summary judgment by Third Circuit against independent contractors suing on behalf of putative class claiming to be employees
• Secured Second Circuit affirmance of summary judgment on similar independent contractor claims to be employees for different client
• Secured Seventh Circuit affirmance of order compelling arbitration of claims under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act despite the novel issue of whether a child user of the technology had consented to the company’s terms
• Secured Second Circuit affirmance of dismissal of contract claim for equity in media technology company after conducting an oral argument
• Secured denial of cert petition from the Supreme Court to protect holding that the FLSA does not support nationwide personal jurisdiction for out-of-state opt-in plaintiffs where the defendant is not at home
• Secured Illinois Supreme Court reversal of judgment against major pharmacy to establish retail business-friendly rule applying the voluntary payment doctrine statewide
• Secured Third Circuit dismissal of qui tam False Claims Act lawsuit and affirmance of dismissal on appeal for leading health insurance provider
• Secured Fifth Circuit affirmance of summary judgment against individual employment action alleging discrimination and Family and Medical Leave Act violation after conducting an oral argument
• Secured settlement in the Third Circuit with the federal government to provide increased supplemental nutrition and food assistance to more than 650,000 Pennsylvania households struggling to meet basic needs during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Secured Ninth Circuit reversal of novel antitrust judgment in case brought by Federal Trade Commission against leading technology company
• Secured denial of a motion in a South Carolina trial court to dismiss brought by several insurance companies in a receivership insurance recovery case after conducting an oral argument
• Secured dismissal of fraud claim in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against a major ecommerce retailer alleging false sale information under state consumer fraud statutes
• Secured affirmance of dismissal of claims by contractor association against energy company under non-justiciability doctrines after conducting an oral argument in the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division
• Secured rejection of a res judicata argument from the claimant in subsequent arbitration in a mass arbitration context (JAMS arbitration)
• Represented amicus national veterans’ advocacy organization in a case supporting the expansion of GI Bill assistance to thousands of veterans in the en banc US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Supreme Court
• Represented amicus charity before the Supreme Court to explain the importance of Section 230 and other internet protections from third-party liability for the technological flourishing of the internet