Mayer Brown expands Supreme Court & Appellate practice with addition of Leif Overvold in Washington DC

WASHINGTON DC – Mayer Brown announced that Leif Overvold has joined the firm as a partner in its leading Supreme Court & Appellate practice in Washington DC. He joins from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Division’s Appellate Staff, where he served as lead counsel in several high-profile appellate matters. 

"Leif’s combination of government and private practice experience is exactly what our clients need as they face increasingly complex appellate and regulatory challenges,” said Nicole Saharsky, co-leader of Mayer Brown’s Supreme Court & Appellate practice. “His proven track record and judgment will be a tremendous asset to our team and to the clients we serve.”

Leif has served as lead counsel in over two dozen cases in his time at DOJ, and presented seventeen oral arguments before the federal courts of appeals and a state supreme court. Earlier in his DOJ career, he also spent several years providing advice to the White House, the Attorney General, and Executive Branch agencies as an attorney-adviser in DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel. He has deep experience in a wide variety of areas, including administrative law, constitutional law, federal statutory interpretation, preemption, and national security.  Before he worked at DOJ, he clerked for Judge Patricia Millett (DC Circuit) and Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston (Second Circuit), and practiced at a leading appellate boutique in Washington DC.

“Mayer Brown was one of the first firms I considered as I began thinking about my next step after ten years at the Department of Justice,” said Leif. “From my first conversations, I was drawn to the opportunity to join Mayer Brown’s excellent appellate practice, whose advocacy I already knew well from my time at DOJ. The firm’s collaborative and welcoming environment, and the success of its lawyers who have transitioned from government service, made this an ideal fit. I look forward to contributing my experience to help clients navigate their most significant legal challenges.”

“Leif’s extensive experience at the US Department of Justice and his appellate clerkships make him an excellent addition to our Supreme Court & Appellate practice," said Andrew Olmem, the managing partner of Mayer Brown's Washington DC office. “His arrival strengthens our ability to provide clients with top-tier counsel in complex appellate and regulatory matters.”

Mayer Brown’s Supreme Court & Appellate practice is led by Andrew Pincus and Nicole Saharsky who have argued a combined 62 cases in the United States Supreme Court, as well as numerous cases across the federal courts of appeals and state supreme courts. The team advocates at every level of the judiciary: before the Supreme Court; in the intermediate appellate courts – where, over the past two years, 25 Mayer Brown lawyers have collectively argued at a rate approaching one case per week; and in trial courts across the country, where the firm’s appellate specialists shape litigation strategy and brief pivotal issues from the outset.