Pre-Eminent Appellate Litigator Joins McDermott
PALO ALTO, CA (February 13, 2006) — McDermott Will & Emery is further strengthening its appellate and white-collar criminal defense practices with the addition of nationally recognized appellate authority and former Justice Department official, Rory Little. Mr. Little, a tenured professor at Hastings College of Law at the University of California in San Francisco, has substantial experience as an appellate lawyer, having argued more than 50 appellate cases before U.S. Courts of Appeal across the country and authored hundreds of appellate briefs. He joins McDermott's Silicon Valley office as senior counsel while continuing his work as a professor at Hastings College of Law.
"Rory will serve as an advocate for and a strategic advisor to our clients on a wide range of appellate issues," said Jeffrey E. Stone, chair of the Firm's Trial Department. "Rory brings high-level insight stemming from extensive experience in appellate courtrooms across the country. He will work closely with senior members of our Trial Department crafting appellate arguments and strategies."
Mr. Little previously served as Chief of the Appellate Section for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of California and as Associate Deputy Attorney General to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. He also served as a trial attorney for the Organized Crime and Racketeering Strike Force in San Francisco, where he prosecuted cases of labor racketeering, money-laundering, narcotics and other organized criminal activity.
"Rory is a significant addition to our Silicon Valley office and will work closely in our fast-growing white-collar criminal defense practice with Matthew J. Jacobs, a former federal prosecutor who joined us last year," commented Anthony de Alcuaz, partner-in-charge of McDermott's Silicon Valley office. "We look forward to Rory providing a tactical insider's view on appellate litigation, both for our attorneys and our clients."
As a faculty member of the Hastings College of Law since 1994, Mr. Little has taught and published extensively in the areas of criminal law and procedure and legal ethics. He lectures nationally on appellate advocacy techniques, criminal law topics and legal ethics. He has served on the American Bar Association's (ABA) Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and its Criminal Justice Standards Committee. He currently serves as Chair of the ABA’s Criminal Amicus Briefing Committee, and as Reporter to the ABA's Task Force to Revise the Standards for Criminal Justice, Prosecutor and Defense Functions.
Mr. Little served as law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Potter Stewart (ret.) and William J. Brennan Jr., as well as U.S. District Judge Louis Oberdorfer in Washington, D.C. His J.D. is from Yale Law School and he earned a double B.A. from the University of Virginia. While at law school, he was director of the Yale Legal Services Organization and a senior editor for the Yale Law Journal.
McDermott's Appellate Practice Group consists of highly experienced lawyers who have successfully handled hundreds of appeals. The members of this practice include former state and federal appellate court clerks, many of whom are active in, and provide strong leadership to, appellate bar associations and serve with appellate judges on appellate court committees. McDermott's Silicon Valley office has played an integral part in the Firm's explosive West Coast growth. The Silicon Valley-based lawyers focus on serving the needs of technology companies, nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area.
