Admitted to Practice | Washington | | California | | U.S. Supreme Court |
| Jeff Fisher has expertise in a wide variety of constitutional and federal statutory fields. He has argued 16 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, including successfully representing the petitioners in the landmark cases of Crawford v. Washington and Blakely v. Washington, and has participated in the certiorari and merits stages of dozens of others. He also has argued cases to several U.S. Courts of Appeals and state appellate courts.
In addition to practicing law, Jeff is a professor at Stanford Law School, where he is Co-Director of the school’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. Selected Experience Briefed and argued case holding that the Confrontation Clause prohibits prosecution from introducing a nontestifying analyst’s forensic laboratory report through the in-court testimony of a different analyst. 131 S. Ct. __ (2011) Briefed, argued, and won case holding that the federal Speedy Trial Act presumptively counts all days beyond ten calendar days expended for transportation to a competency determination toward the seventy-day period in which to commence trial. 131 S. Ct. 2007 (2011) Petitioned, briefed, argued, and won case holding that a claim seeking federal habeas relief from a new sentence is not part of a “second or successive” petition even if the applicant could have, but did not, challenge an earlier judgment on the same grounds. 130 S. Ct. 2788 (2010) Briefed, argued, and won case holding that the fact of machinegun usage, which carries mandatory minimum sentence of thirty years under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), is an element of the offense, not a mere sentencing factor. 130 S. Ct. 2169 (2010) Petitioned, briefed, and argued, and won case holding that the Confrontation Clause prohibits the prosecution in criminal cases from introducing forensic laboratory reports in lieu of live testimony. 129 S. Ct. 2527 (2009) Argued case involving whether jury instructions ambiguously defining a element of a state-law offense can give rise to a due process violation warranting federal habeas corpus relief. 555 U.S. 179 (2009) Briefed and argued case for petitioner in case holding that a prior conviction for a state-law misdemeanor punishable by more than one year constitutes a prior “felony drug offense” for purposes of federal drug sentencing enhancements. 553 U.S. 124 (2008) Court-appointed lead counsel for 30,000 plaintiffs represented by 60 law firms in the consolidated proceedings of more than 250 lawsuits, both class actions and direct actions, filed on behalf of fishermen, processors, Alaska natives, landowners, businesses, and others injured as a result of the spill of 11.8 million gallons of North Slope crude oil into the coastal waters of Alaska by the Exxon Valdez. 296 F. Supp. 2d 1071 (2008) Petitioned, briefed, argued, and won case holding that Eighth Amendment prohibits imposing the death penalty for child rape or any other crime against a person in which the victim does not die. 554 U.S. 407 (2008) Lead counsel for petitioner in case involving whether Blakely v. Washington applies retroactively to federal habeas petitioners whose convictions were final when decision was announced. Court dismissed the case after oral argument on jurisdictional grounds. 549 U.S. 147 (2007) Represented Global Crossing in case involving enforceability of FCC regulations through private rights of action. 550 U.S. 45. (2007) Lead counsel for petitioner in case holding that the Communications Act contains a private right of action to enforce the FCC’s regulations regarding compensation for coinless payphone calls. 550 U.S. 45 (2007) Petitioned, briefed, and argued case holding that the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation partially limits the use of 911 calls in place of live testimony in criminal trials. 547 U.S. 813 (2006) Prepared and filed amicus brief on behalf of the American Jewish Committee and other organizations arguing that military commissions at Guantanamo violated detainee's right to be present and confront his accusers. 548 U.S. 557 (2006) The court held that a trial court's erroneous denial of a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to be represented by the counsel of his choice requires automatic reversal of his conviction. 548 U.S. 140 (2006) Additional Qualifications
- Law Clerk, Hon. Justice John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court
- Law Clerk, Hon. Stephen Reinhardt, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
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Professional and Community Activities
- Co-chair, Amicus Committee; Co-chair, Supreme Court Oral Argument Committee – National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)
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Professional Recognition
- Named as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” in Appellate Law by Woodward/White, 2007-present
- Selected to "Washington Super Lawyers," Law & Politics, 2009-2011
- Named as "Lawyer of the Year," by Lawyers Weekly USA, 2009
- Named to "Top 100 Lawyers in California," by the Daily Journal, 2009
- Selected for "Steven M. Goldstein Criminal Justice Award," organization’s highest honor, by the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2009
- Named as "California Lawyer of the Year," appellate law category, by California Lawyer, 2008
- Selected for "Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award," organization’s highest honor, by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2008
- Named as one of the "Fab 50 Litigators Under 45," by American Lawyer, 2007
- Named as one of the "Top 20 in California Under 40," by the Daily Journal, 2007
- Named as one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America," by the National Law Journal, 2006
- Named as one of the "40 Under 40," one of ten lawyers 'of special note' within group, by the National Law Journal, 2005
- Selected for "William O. Douglas Award," organization's highest honor, by the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2005
- Named as the "Lawyer of the Year," by Lawyers Weekly USA, 2004
- Named as runner-up for "Lawyer of the Year," by the National Law Journal , 2004
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Education J.D., University of Michigan Law School
- Order of the Coif
- Notes Editor, Michigan Law Review
B.A., English, Duke University | |