Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Daniel Geyser will present his oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in the case of Denise A. Badgerow v. Greg Walters. Dan is considered one of the nation’s leading Supreme Court and appellate lawyers.
The question presented in the case is whether federal courts have subject-matter jurisdiction to confirm or vacate arbitration awards under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) where the only basis for jurisdiction is that the underlying dispute involved a federal question. A circuit split has developed regarding the correct approach for determining jurisdiction for post-arbitration motions to confirm or vacate awards.
Dan will argue on behalf of the petitioner, Denise Badgerow, that the federal court had a lack of subject-matter jurisdiction to determine her case. The Texas Lawbook mentioned Dan’s role:
“The dispute hails from Louisiana, but the lawyers have Texas connections: Daniel Geyser, now with Haynes and Boone in Denver, had a solo appellate practice in Dallas in 2018 and more recently joined Alexander Dubose & Jefferson in Dallas. He will argue on behalf of plaintiff Badgerow.”
Dan is chair of the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court Practice and a member of Haynes Boone’s Appellate Group. He focuses on complex and high-stakes appellate litigation, representing clients in the U.S. Supreme Court and in courts of appeals nationwide. He was named one of Law360’s 2019 “Appellate MVPs,” an honor awarded to only four lawyers in the U.S.
Dan is among a small group of highly experienced lawyers who regularly handle significant cases in the U.S. Supreme Court. He has argued 11 U.S. Supreme Court cases in private practice, more than any other active Colorado lawyer. He recently had three cert. petitions granted in a 12-month period (a feat matched by few global firms), and personally handled over 5% of the Court’s merits docket in OT 2018.
Dan routinely matches up against the top litigators in the country. He has convinced the Supreme Court to grant review over the opposition of elite appellate groups at multiple Am Law 20 firms, and his recent wins have come against superstars at Am Law 10 firms and the Solicitor General’s Office. In the past half-decade, Dan ranks among the top five lawyers nationwide for total Supreme Court arguments in private practice, notching “rare victor[ies]” (SCOTUSblog, 2021) and “huge win[s]” (Reuters, 2019) in cases that industry experts said could not be won.
Haynes Boone’s Appellate Practice Group was rated Band 1 in Texas in Chambers USA 2021, with market sources praising the team’s eight, Chambers-ranked appellate lawyers: “Their attention to detail is truly remarkable, and they are some of the best critical thinkers I have ever encountered.”
The following publications reported on Dan's oral argument:
Bloomberg Law
Law360
AdvisorHub
HR Magazine
