Daniel N. Nightingale

Biography

Cases

Class Actions

• Representing a major automobile insurance company in defense of favorable summary judgment and class certification rulings on appeal before the Ninth Circuit in a nine-figure, 80,000 member class action challenging client's valuation methodology for total loss vehicles. Representing same client in similar cases across the country, including appeals in the Fifth and Sixth Circuits.
• Representing a major manufacturer of garbage disposals in a products liability class action covering four states and involving thousands of putative class members.
• Represented a major kitchen appliance manufacturer in a products liability class action covering three states and including thousands of putative class members. The case settled on terms favorable to the client.
• Persuaded the Colorado Court of Appeals to accept discretionary appeal of a district court's order granting class certification in a case concerning Colorado's hospital lien statute.
• Successfully defended the royalty interest owners of an oil well in the appeal of a $150 million class action verdict against the first oil purchaser.

Commercial

• Representing an oil and gas company as post-trial and appellate counsel to defend a verdict of over $40 million in a complex commercial dispute involving an agreement to develop hydrocarbon assets.
• Represented a medical device company in post-trial and appellate proceedings in a case presenting questions of first impression under Colorado products liability law.
• Representing an irrigation district in certiorari proceedings before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case concerning Congress's comprehensive regime for allocating water in the American West.
• Won affirmance of a favorable jury verdict for the general partner of a real estate company in a complex commercial dispute with limited partners.
• Represented a corporate owner of a Texas liquor permit in an appeal challenging the state's attempt to invalidate the permit. The Texas Supreme Court ultimately ruled for the owner client.
• Won a take-nothing judgment after a full bench trial for an oil company in an employment dispute with an executive.

Constitutional

• Won reversal of an adverse standing ruling in the Tenth Circuit in a pro bono appeal for a nonprofit taxpayer advocacy group challenging state registration and disclosure regulations for organizations that meet certain spending thresholds.
• Representing a nonprofit advocacy organization in preparation of amicus briefs in cases concerning speech restrictions on undercover journalists and sidewalk counselors before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Represented a doctor and a law professor in preparation of amicus briefs in cases concerning military vaccine mandates for service members before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals.
• Won reversal of multiple adverse rulings in the Fifth Circuit for a publisher raising First Amendment challenges to state statutes concerning 3-D printing instructions.
• Represented several minority groups in filing a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief that was quoted in a concurring opinion in a landmark case that defines the scope of the Second Amendment.
• Represented the corporate agent of a hospital in an appeal seeking dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged the agent's First Amendment rights.
• Represented a victim of police brutality on a pro bono basis in a civil rights case against a sheriff's deputy.

Other Representative Experience

• Represented a motorcyclist on appeal defending a favorable jury verdict arising from a catastrophic accident. The case settled favorably while the appeal was pending.

Publications & Speaking Engagements

Articles

• Co-Author, "Take a Page From The Onion: A General Counsel's Guide to Effective Amicus Advocacy," Corporate Compliance Insights, (October 19, 2022).
• Comment: Autonomous Weapons & the Problem of State Accountability, 15 CHI. J. INT'L. L. 652 (Febuary 2015).

Press

• WTO Lead Counsel in U.S. Supreme Court "Environmental Case to Watch"

Other Experience

Legal Memberships, Activities, and Honors

Personal Interests