Misha Tseytlin

Misha leads the firm’s Appellate + Supreme Court Practice Group. He is nationally known for his work in high-profile cases in the fields of administrative law and political law. Misha has argued and won multiple cases in appellate courts throughout the U.S., from the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals to state supreme courts and state appellate courts. Misha argued and prevailed before the U.S. Supreme Court in Gill v. Whitford, the most significant redistricting case in decades, in Murr v. Wisconsin, a high-stakes regulatory takings case, and in Rudisill v. McDonough, a major veterans benefits case. He also obtained numerous favorable emergency orders from the U.S. Supreme Court, including in administrative law, political law, and First Amendment issues.

Clients in regulated industries value Misha’s meticulous approach to bet-the-company challenges, including in the highest-stakes cases under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Misha has led and won many of the most important APA cases in the U.S. over the last decade, including lawsuits against rules and rulings issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Misha is also a recognized leader in political law, including redistricting and election-related litigation. He represents clients ranging from ordinary citizens to independent redistricting commissioners and state legislatures and is responsible for multiple landmark victories in state, federal appellate, and U.S. Supreme Court cases. Most recently, he secured a significant victory at the New York Court of Appeals, invaliding both the congressional and state senate maps as unconstitutional under New York’s newly enacted anti-gerrymandering amendments.

• Successfully challenged the New York Legislature’s partisan gerrymandered congressional and State Senate maps, winning at all three levels of the New York Court system, including in expedited proceedings before the New York Court of Appeals, resulting in the drawing of new maps by an independent, nonpartisan special master.
• Successfully defended the nonpartisan Colorado Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission’s final congressional map against multiple novel challenges in the Colorado Supreme Court, which issued a landmark, unanimous opinion adopting the map.
• Briefed and argued Rudisill v. McDonough, a case challenging the VA’s interpretation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, before the U.S. Supreme Court. He obtained a 7-2 victory on behalf of his client, ensuring more than a million veterans would be eligible for educational benefits previously denied by the VA.
• Successfully represented industry group before the U.S. Supreme Court in West Virginia v. EPA, No.20-1530 (U.S.), a landmark administrative-law case under the major-questions doctrine.
• Obtained a nationwide stay from the U.S. Supreme Court pending appeal of a district court’s order vacating a rule pertained to licensing requirements for, among other things, hydropower electric generating systems. This nationwide stay allowed the industry-favored Section 401 Rule to remain in effect, before a successful challenge to the district court’s determination on the merits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
• Achieved multiple appellate victories on behalf of energy-sector clients before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
• Representing New York counties, towns, and individuals in the first lawsuits filed under the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York, a state law governing redistricting and voting rules.
• Successfully defended Wisconsin state election laws before the U.S. Supreme Court (at the emergency-stay stage), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
• Successfully defended various Wisconsin state laws and government actions against multiple novel constitutional challenges, resulting in landmark separation-of-powers opinions from the Wisconsin Supreme Court and published opinions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
• Successfully challenged burdensome restrictions imposed by state and local laws on religious exercise before the U.S. Supreme Court (at the emergency-stay stage) and the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
• Successfully defended a drug manufacturer against securities-fraud claims before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
• Briefed and argued Gill v. Whitford, a major redistricting case, before the U.S. Supreme Court. He obtained a 9-0 victory on behalf of his client, on his lead argument.
• Briefed and argued Murr v. Wisconsin, a significant regulatory takings case, before the U.S. Supreme Court. He obtained a 5-3 victory on behalf of his client.
• Led the multistate, multicourt coalition against the WOTUS Rule, issued under the Clean Water Act. He obtained a stay and preliminary injunction against the rule from the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, as well as from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
• Argued numerous cases before the federal courts of appeals, including several high-profile environmental law and election law challenges.
• Successfully challenged the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate on federal contractors, obtaining a preliminary injunction in the district court against the mandate and then securing an affirmance of that injunction before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
• Briefed and argued Tetra Tech v. DOR, a leading administrative law case that ended agency deference in Wisconsin. He developed a new theory before the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which that court adopted in its landmark opinion.

• Benchmark Litigation: “Future Litigation Star” in Illinois (2025)
• Crain’s Chicago Business’ Notable Leaders in Accounting, Consulting & Law (2024)
• Chambers USA: Litigation: General Commercial, Illinois (2024) and Litigation: Appellate, Illinois (2025)
• City & State New York: Law Power 100 (2023)
• Honors, Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll, D.C. Access to Justice Commission and the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center (2024)
• Best Brief Award from the National Association of Attorneys General for merits brief in Gill v. Whitford