James Azadian Appointed to ABA Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs

Dykema, a leading national law firm, announced today that James (Jimmy) Azadian, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.-based Co-Leader of the firm’s nationwide Appellate and Complex Motion Practice, has been appointed by the President of the American Bar Association (ABA) to serve on the ABA’s Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs.

The seven members of the Standing Committee are nationally recognized as leading appellate advocates, having extensive appellate experience and outstanding track records representing their clients, and many having served as law clerks to Circuit Judges and Supreme Court Justices. The Standing Committee reviews and votes on applications for amicus briefs and, for each approved application, the Committee reviews drafts of the brief and offers high-level, substantive feedback, as well as specific drafting suggestions. The process is an iterative one, with the expectation that the brief will evolve in response to the Standing Committee’s feedback.

Azadian is widely published and frequently cited as an authority on appellate advocacy. He has served as counsel in more than 270 appeals and writ proceedings covering a wide range of industries and subjects across the country. He has been responsible for arguing blockbuster cases that make new law, many with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake for Dykema’s clients, and he is often brought into a case by clients and other attorneys to piece together and present the arguments that ultimately change the court’s mind when an adverse decision is imminent. Azadian frequently serves as special counsel to other law firms in preparing advocates for oral argument and in assisting with the preparation of appellate briefs, as well as critical motions at the trial court level. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct faculty member of Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, teaching his favorite subject—appellate advocacy.

Azadian completed two judicial clerkships with Ninth Circuit Judge Consuelo Maria Callahan and District Judge Ricardo Manuel Urbina of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Recently, the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit appointed Azadian to serve on the Ninth Circuit Advisory Board, after he served three years as Chair of the Ninth Circuit Appellate Lawyer Representatives. The Chief Judge also appointed him to serve on the Law Clerk Resource Group, a subsection of the Workplace Environment Committee, which provides additional resources to help law clerks navigate their clerkship experience.