News and Events

Dean Starr to Argue Before the United States Court of Appeals

Ken Starr, Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean of the School of Law, will argue the case Ward v. NFL at the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, on December 1.

Ward v. NFL involves issues of statutory and contract construction in the context of healthcare reimbursement claims. While initially arising out of an individual claim, class action, and Medicare issues have since been interwoven into the case.

Dean Starr is admitted to practice in California, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. In the 1970's, he clerked for The Honorable David W. Dyer of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, and for Chief Justice Warren E. Burger.

While in private practice, he was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. In addition to working in the private sector, he has served as counselor to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith, judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, solicitor general of the United States, and independent counsel on the Whitewater matter. As solicitor general, he argued twenty-five cases before the Supreme Court.

Dean Starr is a member of numerous professional organizations and boards, including the American Law Institute, the Supreme Court Historical Society, and the American Inns of Court. His best-selling book, First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life was published in 2002.

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