Bobby R. Burchfield is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm�s Washington, D.C. office. A member of the Trial Department, Bobby heads the Complex Litigation Group. He is also co-partner-in-charge of the Firm�s Washington, D.C. office, and a member of the Firm�s Management Committee.
Bobby has practiced in the area of complex corporate litigation since 1981. He has twice been named one of the top 500 lawyers in America by LawDragon, as one of the top 261 commercial litigators in the United States by Who�s Who Legal: USA; as one of the top 100 lawyers in the D.C. area by Super Lawyers; and as one of the top trial lawyers in the D.C. area (Legal Times, June 16, 2003). He has been listed in several editions of Best Lawyers in America, and is highly rated by both Chambers Global (2004 ed.) and Chambers USA (2004 ed., 2005 ed. and 2006 ed.). By appointment of President George W. Bush, he served on the Antitrust Modernization Commission, which issued its Report and Recommendations on April 2, 2007.
Bobby has been lead securities defense counsel for such companies as ENSERCH Corporation; in major antitrust litigation for such clients as Amgen, United Airlines, E.I. duPont de Nemours, and the American Automobile Association; RICO defense for such clients as Tenet Healthcare Corporation f/k/a National Medical Enterprises; class action defense for such clients as CNH Global; and corporate takeover defense for Total-Tel USA Communications, Inc. On behalf of the Republican National Committee and other political parties he argued before the United States Supreme Court in their constitutional challenge to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, 124 S. Ct. 619 (2003).
Jury Trials. Bobby has tried cases to juries on behalf of a number of clients, including American Can (contract/antitrust), NN Ball & Roller (contract), Ebasco Services, Inc. (securities class action), ENSERCH Corporation (insurance coverage for professional liability), Dow Corning Corporation (insurance coverage for product liability), The Washington Post's subsidiary Legi-Slate (promissory estoppel), and the RNC (defamation). Bobby has never lost a jury trial.
Bench Trials. Other trial experience includes bench trials for the RNC, Dow Corning, and Total-Tel USA Communications, Inc., numerous preliminary injunction hearings, and administrative trials before such agencies as the International Trade Commission and the Federal Election Commission.
Arbitrations and Mediations. Bobby has served as lead counsel in a number of major arbitrations, including two for the National Football League (antitrust and contract): two for Newport News Shipbuilding (contract), two for New Holland North America (dealer termination), one for Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Corporation (contract), and one for Tenet Healthcare Corporation (contract). Bobby has also led mediations for such clients as DuPont (antitrust and Lanham Act) and Tenet Healthcare (RICO).
Appeals. In addition to arguing McConnell v. FEC in the United States Supreme Court, Bobby has argued a dozen appellate cases, before four different U.S. Courts of Appeals, the D.C. Court of Appeals, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, and the Louisiana Court of Appeals. Among those cases were an environmental case for Exxon Corporation, retiree health benefits class action for CNH America, a complex interpleader and tax case for Industrial Bank of Washington, federal election law and First Amendment cases for Bush-Quayle '92, and an insurance coverage and securities fraud matter for ENSERCH.
At The George Washington University Law School, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. Bobby clerked for Judge Ruggero J. Aldisert of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1979 to 1981. He served in 1992 as General Counsel of President George H. W. Bush's re-election campaign. Prior to joining McDermott, Bobby was the Co-Chair of Covington & Burling�s Litigation Group. Bobby served as the President of the Wake Forest Alumni Association, and currently serves on both the Wake Forest University Board of Trustees and the Board of Advisers at The George Washington University Law School. In 2006, he received Wake Forest�s Distinguished Alumni Award. Bobby also serves on the Boards of the Georgetown Pediatric Center and the National Republican Lawyers Association. Bobby is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.
Education:
George Washington University Law School, J.D., 1979.
Wake Forest University, B.A., 1976. |