WASHINGTON (June 9, 2009) - Morrison & Foerster is pleased to announce that Deanne Maynard, former Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General at the Department of Justice, has joined as a partner in the Washington, DC, office. Ms. Maynard will chair the firm's Appellate and Supreme Court practice group.

Ms. Maynard has served in the Solicitor General's office since 2004.  During her tenure she argued 11 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, notably some of the most important business cases over the last few Terms.  Her arguments include the antitrust case Pacific Bell Telephone Company v. linkLine Communications, Inc. and the patent case MedImmune, Inc. v Genentech, Inc.  Before joining the Solicitor General's office, Ms. Maynard was a partner at Jenner & Block for more than five years.

Morrison's Appellate and Supreme Court practice achieved three victories at the Supreme Court in the past year and the practice was recently re-named to the National Law Journal's "Appellate Hot List," which recognizes the nation's top appellate practices.  Ms. Maynard arrives following the appointment by the Obama administration of former partner Beth Brinkmann to serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General to head the Civil Appellate Division, joining another former Morrison partner, Tony West, who was appointed to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division.  Ms. Maynard joins a number other highly regarded appellate specialists at Morrison & Foerster, including former Solicitor General Drew Days, former Ninth Circuit Judge and Secretary of Education Shirley Hufstedler, and former California Court of Appeals Justice Miriam Vogel, as well as several others with significant Justice Department and Supreme Court clerkship experience. 

"Deanne Maynard is a highly regarded appellate advocate with substantial trial court and U.S. Supreme Court experience.  She has participated in many precedent-setting cases in areas of particular importance to our clients.  These cases include leading intellectual property and antitrust matters," said Steven Kaufmann, chair of the Morrison & Foerster Global Litigation department. "We are excited to have Deanne join the firm.  She has the background and experience to handle groundbreaking matters for our clients and we believe that she will effectively lead our exceptional team of Supreme Court and appellate lawyers."

Ms. Maynard noted, "I thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of representing the United States before the Supreme Court, but I am excited to return to private practice. I look forward to leading and continuing to develop Morrison & Foerster's widely recognized Appellate and Supreme Court practice, and to working closely with the firm's talented lawyers."

After law school Ms. Maynard clerked twice at the Supreme Court of the United States.  She clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer and for retired Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, at which time she was affiliated with Justice John Paul Stevens.  Ms. Maynard also clerked for Judge Stanley Harris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Ms. Maynard graduated magna cum laude in 1991 from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She earned a B.A., with distinction, in English from the University of Virginia, where she was also Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa.