Willkie Farr & Gallagher has appointed litigator Mark Stancil as a partner in the firm’s Washington office where he will focus on trial and appellate advocacy in complex commercial litigation, with a particular focus on investment disputes.Stancil’s clients include hedge funds and multi-strategy asset managers.
“Mark’s strong track record at the trial and appellate levels bolsters our rapidly expanding litigation team,” says Matthew Feldman, Co-Chairman of the firm. “He has litigated numerous complex matters for sophisticated investors, including some of the largest and most contentious matters involving billions of dollars. His deep experience navigating these disputes dovetails well with our restructuring and corporate practices, and builds on our capabilities for handling complex litigation across the firm.”
Stancil says: “Willkie’s powerhouse litigators are known for their creativity in handling complex matters, tactical acumen, commercial focus and strong track record of success across a wide spectrum of legal issues. Further, Willkie’s strong bankruptcy and corporate platforms are ideal complements to my investment disputes practice. I am delighted to join the firm.”
Stancil’s practice is focused on investment-related disputes at the bankruptcy court, district court, and appellate levels, often involving novel questions of law and complex financial transactions. Stancil’s clients include hedge funds; multi-strategy asset managers; and various trustees, agents, and ad hoc groups with significant financial interests in the outcome of litigation. He has served as lead litigator at every level of the federal judiciary, including multiple district courts and the US Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Ninth Circuits. He has also argued five cases before the US Supreme Court, briefed many more, and filed scores of briefs at the certiorari stage.
Stancil has litigated a wide variety of issues outside the investment context, including the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, constitutional claims, the Hatch-Waxman Act, partnership tax controversies, intellectual property litigation (copyright, trademark and trade secrets), Section 1983 litigation and qualified immunity, federal securities laws, accounting fraud and accounting regulatory matters, SEC disclosure issues and the Alien Tort Statute.
Stancil’s arrival continues the firm’s growth of its litigation practice, which most recently added a litigation team in the Bay Area, Michael Gottlieb in Washington, DC, and Randall Jackson in New York.
Before entering private practice, Stancil served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist on the US Supreme Court and to the Honourable David M Ebel on the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He is a founding director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he currently serves as an adjunct professor. He also serves as a Moot Court Panelist for the Georgetown Supreme Court Institute and National Association of Attorneys General.
Stancil received a BA, with high distinction, from University of Virginia; an MA in American History from the University of Virginia; and a JD from University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and Articles Editor for the Virginia Law Review.
