Mr Alan Schoenfeld > WilmerHale > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
WilmerHale Offices

7 WORLD TRADE CENTER
250 GREENWICH STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10007
NEW YORK
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Mr Alan Schoenfeld

Position
Partner
Career
Alan Schoenfeld has experience representing clients in a wide variety of civil matters before state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate levels. His practice has focused on commercial disputes and defense of complex class actions, with a particular focus on financial institutions. He has represented a diverse group of clients in cases involving securities, antitrust, bankruptcy, RICO, FCRA, EFTA, FDCPA, UDAP, contract and tort claims, among others.
Mr. Schoenfeld also has extensive experience with appellate litigation in United States Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. He has been involved in briefing and oral argument for matters involving a wide range of issues of both federal and state law, including federal Indian law, intellectual property, antitrust, banking law, contract law, and criminal law and procedure. Mr. Schoenfeld has represented clients before the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh and Federal Circuits, and has presented oral arguments in the Second and Ninth Circuits.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Schoenfeld completed clerkships with the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the Honorable Denise Cote of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was a summer associate at WilmerHale in 2005 and 2006.
Community Involvement
Mr. Schoenfeld is vice chairman of the board of directors of Let’s Get Ready.
Pro Bono
Mr. Schoenfeld has an extensive pro bono practice, with a particular focus on LGBT, immigration, special education and federal Indian law matters. He has acted as counsel or co-counsel to the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project, Immigration Equality, Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Children of New York, and the National Congress of American Indians in numerous matters.
Mr. Schoenfeld was a member of the WilmerHale team acting as co-counsel to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in its challenge to the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). He is currently representing a transgender inmate incarcerated in Virginia, in her Eighth Amendment challenge to the State’s refusal to provide medically necessary treatment for her gender dysphoria.
Professional Activities
Mr. Schoenfeld is a member of the firm’s Hiring Committee in New York.
Education
- JD, Yale Law School, 2006
- MPhil, University of Cambridge, 2003
- BA, Yale College, 2002
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
(Next Generation Partners)An appellate powerhouse, WilmerHale presented twenty-seven oral arguments in the first six months of 2023, including two before the US Supreme Court. The group routinely appears before appellate courts across the country, with particularly vast experience in the Federal Circuit, as well as in the Ninth, Fourth and First Circuits. Equipped to advise on appeals spanning the full spread of industries and legal spheres, the team has recently led cases dealing with issues as diverse as trade secrets, the Anti-Terrorism Act, First Amendment rights, and voting rights, among others. Former US Solicitor General Seth Waxman co-chairs the practice and is widely considered a dean of the appellate bar; he recently paired up with with Ari Holtzblatt to secure a 9-0 SCOTUS victory on behalf of Twitter in a case unanimously reversing a Ninth Circuit decision concerning the liability of social media platforms for acts of terrorism. Boston-based department co-chair Mark Fleming has argued 62 appellate cases, including eight SCOTUS appeals, and is highly regarded for his record in patent cases before the Federal Circuit. The deep bench also includes practice vice-chair Catherine Carroll, who has argued four SCOTUS cases; fellow vice-chair Daniel Volchok, who has niche expertise in Native American law; Thomas Saunders, who specializes in IP appeals; and New York-based Alan Schoenfeld. Named attorneys are based in Washington DC unless stated otherwise.
Lawyer Rankings
- Next Generation Partners United States > Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal) United States > Dispute resolution
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Antitrust > Cartel
- International trade and national security > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Education
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Native American law
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Government > State attorneys general
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- International trade and national security > Trade remedies and trade policy
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- International trade and national security > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Government > Government contracts
- Government > Government relations
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Finance > Fintech
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense