Biography

Shawn has handled complex litigation matters from pre-complaint investigations, to drafting the complaint, to managing discovery and conducting depositions, to drafting major motions, to examining witnesses at trial, to drafting the appellate briefs and conducting oral argument, and drafting briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court. His experience includes:

Counsel to defendants in two multi-million dollar class action lawsuits under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act;

Counsel in constitutional challenges to state statutes and federal regulations;

Counsel in APA challenges to agency regulatory action;

Counsel to national non-profits who were under investigation by multiple states attorneys general;

Counsel to political committees and non-profits in federal investigations;

Counsel to individuals in an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics;

Counsel to elected officials in FEC investigations;

Counsel to an independent body (minor political party in New York) in multi-year litigation that went to the Second Circuit twice and to the U.S. Supreme Court;

Counsel to an international corporation in a manufacturing defect lawsuit;

Counsel and lead drafter in numerous amici briefs to various U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court;

Counsel in several voting rights trials and appeals;

Counsel to plaintiffs in civil rights lawsuits against academic institutions.

Representative Matters
  • Counsel to Congressional and State Legislative Republicans in Michigan Redistricting case where the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a judgment detrimental to my clients on jurisdictional grounds. Chatfield, et al. v. League of Women Voters of Michigan, et al., No. 19-220 (U.S. Oct. 21, 2019).
  • Counsel to a non-profit organization before the Arizona Supreme Court where the Court reversed a civil penalty imposed against my client : Legacy Foundation Action Fund v. Citizens Clean Election Commission, No. 22-0041 (Az. 2023);
  • Counsel to six Virginia senators who received subpoenas for their documents regarding legislation. The Supreme Court of Virginia unanimously agreed with our position—and adopted several arguments advanced in our brief—that the documents were protected under the Virginia Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause: Edwards v. Vesilind, 790 S.E.2d 469 (Va. 2016);
  • Counsel to a political committee in a constitutional challenge to an FEC regulation. Courts agreed that the FEC regulation violated the First Amendment. Pursuing America’s Greatness v. Federal Election Commission, No. 15-5264, (D.C. Cir. 2016); Pursuing America’s Greatness v. Federal Election Commission, No. 15-cv-1217 (D.D.C. March 21, 2019).
Presentations & Teaching Experience
  • Lectured on Marbury v. Madison to law students at Anahuac University in Mexico City (Universidad Anahuac Mexico, Facultad de Derecho), August, 2024;
  • Lectured on the development of the Fourteenth Amendment to law students at Anahuac University in Mexico City (Universidad Anahuac Mexico, Facultad de Derecho), October, 2024;
  • Lectured at the University of Notre Dame’s Fall Ethics Conference: title of the lecture: THE CIVIL WAR AMENDMENTS: THAT GENERATION’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE CONSTITUTION’S GUARANTEE OF HUMAN DIGNITY, November, 2021.
Amicus Briefs

Shawn has extensive experience in authoring amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court and various federal courts of appeals. Below is a representative sample:

vCard

Shawn Sheehy

Partner

[email protected]
+1.202.258.0741

Credentials

Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Virginia

Education

The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, J.D. 2011

College of the Holy Cross, A.B. 2006

National Trial Advocacy College, 2014

Prior Law Firm Experience

Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak, PLLC

Practice Areas