Sanford (“Sandy”) Weisburst was recognized by LawDragon as one of the top 500 litigators in the United States for 2023. In 2020, Sandy was named a Law360 MVP for energy law for 2020, in recognition of his accomplishments including helping Entergy Mississippi defeating a suit by the Mississippi Attorney General seeking approximately $2 billion for alleged misconduct in energy procurement practices, and his victory for Total Exploration and Production in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturning a multimillion dollar judgment concerning decommissioning liability. Also in 2020, Sandy was recognized by American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily for this Fifth Circuit victory and another victory the same week in the Federal Circuit for Alacritech vacating and remanding a decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that had invalidated one of Alacritech’s patents.
Sandy is Co-Chair of Quinn Emanuel’s Energy Practice and Co-Chair of the firm’s National Appellate Practice. Sandy’s practice focuses on energy matters at the administrative agency, trial court, and appellate levels. Beyond these energy matters, Sandy briefs and argues appeals spanning numerous subject areas, including patent law, commercial contract disputes, and civil procedure. Sandy has argued appeals in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Federal Circuits, as well as the New York Court of Appeals (New York’s highest state court) and the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department (an intermediate New York appellate court).
Sandy graduated first in his class, with highest honors, from the University of Chicago Law School in 1998. Sandy served as the Topics and Comments Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review. Sandy was awarded prizes for the best student in law and economics and the best paper by a graduating student, and also was admitted to the Order of the Coif. Sandy earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in economics, magna cum laude, and was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa. Following law school, Sandy clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then for Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court of the United States
- Argued and obtained decision from U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacating and remanding district court's judgment dismissing fraud and negligence claims by financial guaranty insurer against investment manager of a collateralized debt obligation vehicle that had $1.5 billion in assets at inception.
- Argued and obtained decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of ear plug manufacturer Moldex, reversing district court’s grant of summary judgment to Moldex’s competitor on ground that Moldex’s green color trademark on earplugs is functional and not eligible for trademark protection.
- Argued and obtained decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on behalf of Parmalat Extraordinary Administrator Dr. Enrico Bondi, reversing district court’s grant of judgment to auditing firm Grant Thornton in Dr. Bondi’s Illinois-law based case against Grant Thornton for misconduct in its audits of Parmalat.
- Argued and obtained decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on behalf of EQUATE Petrochemical Company, affirming district court’s judgment dismissing for lack of personal jurisdiction.
- Argued and obtained decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York on behalf of Plaintiff Entergy Nuclear FitzPatrick, LLC and affiliates, denying motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by Defendant New York Public Service Commissioners in case alleging that a New York Public Service Commission order is preempted by the Federal Power Act and unconstitutional under the Dormant Commerce Clause.
- Argued and obtained decision from the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, modifying from a dismissal with prejudice to a dismissal without prejudice lower court’s order dismissing complaint of financial guaranty insurer against creator of two collateralized debt obligation vehicles.
- Argued and obtained decision from the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, reversing lower court’s order disqualifying client’s chosen counsel.
- Obtained decision from the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, reversing lower court’s ruling that the Indian Point Energy Center is not exempt from review under the New York Coastal Management Program.
- Obtained decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. holding that the Alien Torts Statute does not extend to alleged conduct committed on foreign soil.
- Obtained decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, Inc. holding that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 categorically preempts state-law design-defect claims.
- Obtained decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in AIG v. Bank of America reversing the district court and holding that the federal Edge Act does not extend to banking in a U.S. insular territory unless a federally chartered bank was involved in the banking transaction as opposed to taking a subsequent interest in it through an acquisition of the entity that was involved.
- Obtained decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, affirming in relevant part the district court’s judgment that Vermont statutes that purported to require the shut down of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in March 2012 were invalid as preempted by the federal Atomic Energy Act because those statutes were grounded in nuclear safety concerns.
- Obtained decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in In re Parmalat Securities Litigation reversing the district court and holding that the case, brought by an Italian trustee on behalf of of the bankrupt Parmalat estate against the accounting firms that facilitated the insider fraud that caused Parmalat’s demise, was subject to mandatory abstention in favor of the Illinois state court in which the case was originally filed.
- Obtained decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Merrill Lynch v. Allegheny Energy, Inc., vacating multimillion dollar judgment against Allegheny Energy and reinstating Allegheny Energy’s claims against Merrill Lynch.
- Obtained decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversing multimillion dollar jury verdict in favor of independent record company in its suit against an executive of a major record company for fraudulent inducement, tortious interference with contract, and copyright infringement.
- Obtained decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Grupo Televisa v. Telemundo reversing district court’s grant of summary judgment to Telemundo and holding that Televisa could proceed with its claims, under Florida law, for Telemundo’s tortious interference with a contract between Televisa and a Mexican telenovela actor.
- Obtained decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Sinaltrainal v. The Coca-Cola Company affirming district court’s dismissal of case as not within the scope of the Alien Tort Statute or the Torture Victims Protection Act.
- University of Chicago Law School
(J.D.,with highest honors, 1998)- University of Chicago Law Review:
- Topics and Comments Editor
- Order of the Coif
- Best Student in Law and Economics
- Best Paper by a Graduating Student
- University of Chicago Law Review:
- Harvard College
(A.B., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1995)- Mather House Representative to Economics Department's Student Advisory Committee, 1994-1995
- The State Bar of New York
- Supreme Court of the United States
- United States Court of Appeals
- First Circuit
- Second Circuit
- Third Circuit
- Fourth Circuit
- Sixth Circuit
- Seventh Circuit
- Eighth Circuit
- Ninth Circuit
- Tenth Circuit
- Eleventh Circuit
- D.C. Circuit
- Federal Circuit
- United States District Court
- Eastern District of New York
- Northern District of New York
- Southern District of New York
- Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP, New York:
- Associate, 2001-2005
- Associate, 2001-2005
- Law Clerk to the Hon. Clarence Thomas:
- Supreme Court of the United States, 1999-2000
- Supreme Court of the United States, 1999-2000
- Law Clerk to the Hon. Laurence H. Silberman:
- United States Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, 1998-1999
- Lawdragon 500: Leading Litigator in Energy, Business Litigation; Appellate, 2023, 2024
- Legal 500 USA, Dispute Resolution: Appellate – Courts of Appeal, Supreme Courts (States and Federal), 2023
- Legal 500 USA, Energy Litigation: Oil and Gas, “Recommended Lawyer”, 2023
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Energy Lawyers, Energy Litigation, 2023
- Law360: "MVP in Energy", 2020
- "Judicial Review of Settlements and Consent Decrees: An Economic Analysis,"
- 28 J. LEGAL STUD. 55 (1999)
- "Adjusting a Criminal Defendant's Sentence After a Successful Collateral Attack,"
- 64 U. CHI. L. REV. 1067 (1997)
- "Economic Effects of Strengthening Patent Protection in Italy,"
- 26 IIC INT'L REV. OF INDUS. & COPYRIGHT L. 1009 (1995) (with F.M. Scherer)