Pratik Shah, head of Akin’s Supreme Court and appellate practice, has argued 18 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and over 60 cases in the federal courts of appeals (including in every circuit).

Leading publications describe Professor Shah as “absolutely brilliant” and “the complete package: an extremely gifted writer and an extremely effective oral advocate,” Chambers USA; “supremely talented” and having “a knack for boiling down complex cases to their essence and advocating for his clients in a calm, clear and compelling way,” The Legal 500; and a top appellate advocate who has successfully “practiced before the highest court in the land on some of the most groundbreaking cases of the 21st century,” Washington Business Journal.

Professor Shah is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and a Master in the Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court. Under his leadership, Akin has been a mainstay on the National Law Journal’s Appellate Hot List, named one of the top three appellate practices in the Best of Corporate Counsel rankings and recognized as Law360’s Practice Group of the Year.

Before joining Akin, Professor Shah served for more than five years as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice. He received a number of awards for his advocacy before the Supreme Court during that time, including the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for his role as lead drafter of the successful challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor.

Prior to his work at the Justice Department, Professor Shah worked in the appellate practice of an international law firm, taught constitutional law, and clerked for Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge William A. Fletcher on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.