Josh Rosenkranz Honored as an American Lawyer Litigator of the Year for Unprecedented Second Time

American Lawyer
December.20.2017

Congratulations to Josh Rosenkranz for being named a 2018 Litigator of the Year by American Lawyer, the first time a lawyer has been named twice to the distinguished list since it was established six years ago.

Josh, head of Orrick’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice, was cited for his string of appellate successes over a two-year period, including his groundbreaking Second Circuit win for Microsoft in one of the most important privacy cases in recent history. (Josh will be arguing the case for Microsoft in the U.S. Supreme Court this term). “Whether for tech giants or financial execs, Joshua Rosenkranz is winning crucial battles and leaving a mark on the law,” the publication said.

In addition to the Microsoft case, American Lawyer cited another major win in the Second Circuit involving a ruling that voided a $1.27 billion penalty against Bank of America and a crushing penalty against one of its former executives singled out in a prosecution regarded as the Justice Department’s signature case arising from the 2008 housing crisis. The feature also noted Josh, a rare “outside-the-Beltway SCOTUS litigator, racked up three wins in four arguments, with a fourth case a 4-4 split” during the two-year time frame.

In honoring Josh with the same award in 2012, American Lawyer dubbed him “the Defibrillator” for his ability to revive the toughest cases on appeal. “Rosenkranz still deserves the moniker we once game him – the Defibrillator,” the publication said today.

This is the latest recognition for Josh and Orrick’s appellate team. Earlier this month, Law360 named him an Appellate MVP, and earlier this year the New York Law Journal named him a “Distinguished Leader.” Financial Times previously recognized him as one of the ten most innovator lawyers in North America for securing a Federal Circuit reversal in Oracle v. Google. In addition, the National Law Journal in October named Orrick’s appellate practice to the Appellate “Hot List” for the sixth time.

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E. Joshua Rosenkranz Partner, Supreme Court & Appellate, Intellectual Property

New York

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D:+1 212 506 5380
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Finance Sector
Supreme Court & Appellate
Intellectual Property
Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution
White Collar, Investigations, Securities Litigation & Compliance
Antitrust & Competition
International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution

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E. Joshua Rosenkranz Partner

New York

Josh has been named American Lawyer's “Litigator of the Year” twice in addition to being a finalist for 2022. In 2012, the magazine dubbed him “the Defibrillator” based on his streak of appellate wins for companies that “appeared to be at death’s door,” and in 2017 it declared, he “still deserves the moniker we once gave him.”

In 2014, The Financial Times named Josh one of the 10 most innovative lawyers in the North American legal sector for his work “demystify[ing] the technical issues” and securing a victory in the blockbuster Federal Circuit appeal, Oracle v. Google. Chambers USA has reported, “He wins accolades for his ‘brilliant analysis and judgment.’ Clients appreciate how he ‘rethinks every case from the ground up,’ and add: ‘He can take the most complicated legal or technological issue and present it in a way that seems like common sense.’” Another edition of Chambers USA added: “‘His briefs are quite simply beautiful,’” and “clients describe his courtroom presence as ‘both commanding and accessible at the same time.’ He has the ‘perfect combination of persuasiveness, intelligence, wit, and deference.’”

Josh's practice covers a wide range of subjects, including intellectual property, financial services, securities, privacy, antitrust, federal preemption, insurance law, corporate governance, criminal law, and constitutional litigation. Among his recent clients are Cisco, Credit Suisse, Cox Communications, DISH Network, Genentech, Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Mozilla, Oracle, Sonos, and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Clients turn to Josh to win the highest stakes appeals, including appeals in cases that threaten the very survival of a business. For example:

He represented Microsoft in an international cause célèbre in the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the U.S. Government’s claim that it can serve warrants for emails stored overseas.
He represented DISH Network in one of the most high-profile patent appeals in the country, successfully overturning an injunction that threatened the company's life.
He has been lead counsel in multiple cases either defending or challenging verdicts over $1 billion.
He represented Facebook in the high-profile battle waged by the founder's Harvard classmates, the Winklevoss twins, who laid claim to the idea for Facebook, winning a ruling from the Ninth Circuit to end the lawsuit.
He won a landmark victory in a Supreme Court case that rescued the estimated $60 billion U.S. market of copyrighted goods manufactured abroad.
He represented 36 law schools in a high-profile Supreme Court case against the Department of Defense.

Josh was the founding president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, one of the country’s foremost public interest firms. Over the course of eight years, he was the Brennan Center’s chief strategist on litigation and public policy advocacy. Before that, Josh founded the Office of the Appellate Defender, a public defender office specializing in criminal appeals.