Brinton Lucas

Brinton Lucas is an appellate litigator with substantial experience in high-profile challenges to government regulation. A former senior official at the Justice Department, he has argued more than a dozen appeals, including before the Supreme Court, the en banc Ninth Circuit, and the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, D.C., and Federal Circuits.

Brinton returned to Jones Day after serving in several significant positions in the Justice Department. As an Assistant to the Solicitor General, he represented the United States before the Supreme Court and helped craft the government's nationwide appellate strategy. He also served as Deputy Associate Attorney General, where he supervised high-stakes litigation handled by the Civil and Civil Rights Divisions. Before that, Brinton served as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, helping oversee the defense of prominent Executive Branch actions in district and appellate courts across the country.

Brinton has successfully argued cases at every level of the federal judiciary, from the district court to the Supreme Court. This experience includes challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission's stock buyback rule in the Fifth Circuit, defending clients against novel citizen lawsuits in the D.C. Circuit, and expanding appellate review of climate change tort litigation in the Supreme Court. He also has drafted more than 60 briefs in the Supreme Court and dozens more in the federal courts of appeals covering a wide range of constitutional, statutory, and administrative law issues.

Earlier in his career, Brinton clerked for Justice Thomas on the Supreme Court and Judge Wilkinson on the Fourth Circuit.