Colleen Roh Sinzdak

Primary Focus & Experience

Ms. Sinzdak specializes in Supreme Court, appellate, and complex litigation. She also provides strategic advice regarding constitutional issues and legal trends in the federal courts, drawing on her many years of experience as an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the United States Department of Justice.  In that role, she represented the United States before the Supreme Court and developed and managed the United States’ litigation strategy in appellate proceedings and high stakes cases involving government policies and regulations. 

Ms. Sinzdak has argued eleven cases before the Supreme Court, advocating for the winning position in major cases involving securities litigation, bankruptcy, patent law, and more.  She has also briefed well over one hundred Supreme Court cases, serving as the principal drafter of successful briefs in cases like NetChoice v. Paxton and Moody (recognizing First Amendment limits on the regulation of social media companies) and Seven County v. Eagle County Colorado (reinforcing boundaries on the federally-mandated environmental review process under NEPA).  And Ms. Sinzdak has briefed and argued numerous cases before the federal courts of appeals and the district courts. 

Representative Arguments:

• NVIDIA Corporation v. E. Ohman J: or Fonder AB (Supreme Court). Successfully briefed and argued case regarding the pleading standards under the Private Securities Litigation Act.
• MOAC Mall Holdings LLC v. Transform Holdco LLC (Supreme Court). Successfully briefed and argued bankruptcy case involving questions of mootness and statutory jurisdiction.
• City of Chicago v. Fulton (Supreme Court). Successfully briefed and argued bankruptcy case regarding the application of the automatic stay and turnover provisions of the Bankruptcy Code.
• Amgen v. Sanofi (Supreme Court). Successfully briefed and argued a major patent case regarding patent law’s enablement requirement in a dispute concerning the patenting of an antibody drug. The argument and victory received favorable coverage in the business, science, and legal press.
• Bouarfa v. Mayorkas (Supreme Court). Successfully briefed and argued case regarding the availability of judicial review for the revocation of a petition for an immigrant visa.
• GSS Group Ltd. v. National Port Authority of Liberia (D.C. Circuit). Successfully briefed and argued case regarding a federal court’s jurisdiction to enforce a default judgment entered by a foreign arbitral tribune.
• B&B Hardware v. Hargis Industries, Inc. (Eighth Circuit). Successfully briefed and argued trademark case on remand from the Supreme Court.
• Corman v. Torres (Three Judge Panel, M.D. Pennsylvania). Successfully briefed and argued major congressional redistricting case on behalf of the state government defendants; successfully opposed request for emergency relief from judgment from the Supreme Court.

Other Representative Matters:

• Provided strategic advice regarding the application of a range of federal laws regarding oil and gas leasing, mining, energy, and environmental regulations, including in cases involving NEPA, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and the Federal Power Act.
• Provided guidance regarding the effects of recent Supreme Court decisions on issues including the authority of administrative agencies, limits on white-collar prosecutions, and the potential for regulating the internet and other emerging technologies.
• Developed long term litigation strategy for defending constitutionality of various federal statutes and regulations.

Recognition & Accomplishments

Prior to joining the Office of the Solicitor General, Ms. Sinzdak practiced in the appellate group at Hogan Lovells, where she was named a Litigator of the Week by The American Lawyer and a Rising Star in Appellate Litigation by Law 360. 

Ms. Sinzdak clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts on the United States Supreme Court and then-Judge Merrick Garland on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Harvard Law School, her M.A. and a secondary B.A. from Clare College, Cambridge University, and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Columbia University.

Before law school, Ms. Sinzdak was a high school English teacher, where she honed her ability to communicate difficult concepts to an often skeptical audience.