They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40 - Yaakov Roth of Jones Day

Please describe two of your most substantial, recent wins in practice.
I was honored to convince the Supreme Court to unanimously reverse the convictions of my client, Bridget Kelly, on charges arising out of the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal. For many years, I’ve been troubled by the criminalization of politics and prosecutorial overreach in the political sphere. I had the opportunity to combat those trends when I helped [former] Governor [Bob] McDonnell of Virginia defeat bogus bribery charges in the Supreme Court a few years ago. Bridgegate felt like more of the same—a politically unpopular action that was contorted into a federal felony. It was incredibly satisfying to see the Supreme Court adopt the legal theories that we developed—and even more satisfying to tell the client and her kids that she wasn’t going to prison after all.

What is the most important lesson you learned as a first-year attorney and how does it inform your practice today?
I spent my first year clerking for Judge [Michael] Boudin. One time I told the judge that I was struggling with a very close case; there was some support in the record for both sides and I was not sure how to handle it. He told me not to worry—if the case is close, no great injustice will be done regardless of which way it comes out. It is actually the cases that are not close, he said, that we need to really worry about getting right. I found that lesson to be counterintuitive but enlightening, and think of it often. When I work on a case, I focus on how to convey to the judge or judges that the case is not “close” and that justice requires a decision in my client’s favor.

How do you define success in your practice?
Success is really defined by the client’s objectives. Obviously, sometimes success means winning the case. But sometimes success means getting a precedent on the books, to protect against later lawsuits. Sometimes success means keeping a case out of court, for strategic reasons. Sometimes success means getting a case into court, so that the client has an opportunity to share its side of the story. Sometimes success means getting noticed (for example, as an amicus curiae trying to advance a different theory), but sometimes it means avoiding notice (for example, having the Supreme Court decline to take up a case). It is very easy in this business to allow the lawyer’s goals to take precedence, whether that means getting more time at the podium or getting into the newspapers. But our job is to serve clients. If we don’t define success against their metrics, we aren’t doing our job.

What are you most proud of as a lawyer?
I’ve had some moments of pride, and many moments of disappointment. Of the former, there is nothing that compares to securing a client’s liberty. That’s not the bulk of what I do; most of my clients are corporations, not individuals. But in my criminal matters, I’ve had a few occasions where I played a direct role in preventing a client from going to prison, or obtaining his release. For [former Virginia] Governor McDonnell, the Fourth Circuit had ruled against him and denied him bail pending certiorari. The Supreme Court was the last chance of avoiding prison. I remember staying up all night working on a reply in support of our emergency bail petition—a type of request that the Supreme Court had not granted in 40 years. The feeling when we got word that it had been granted was incredible. Likewise for Bridget Kelly: She had a prison reporting date, and less than 10 days before that date, the Supreme Court granted our certiorari petition. In both cases, we were at the very last step and the clients were on the verge of reporting—yet in the end, both were vindicated. That is what I am most proud of.

Who is your greatest mentor in the law and what have they taught you?
Justice [Antonin] Scalia, for whom I clerked, was my greatest mentor in the law. He taught me the power of language. Appellate lawyers tend to focus on oral advocacy as the peak of the profession, but most cases are decided based on the written submissions. Our most important skill is writing. Justice Scalia was a masterful writer. He pored over every word of his draft opinions to make sure his language was absolutely precise. He would chide us for using the word “delegate” when we meant “authorize”; I remember getting a handwritten note from him imploring me to stop conflating the two. He wanted to convey exactly the right point, and do it with no more words than necessary. I try to do the same in my work—to be clear, concise, and memorable in my use of language.

Just for fun, tell us your two favorite songs on your summer music playlist.
With five kids all aged 8 and under, “Baby Shark” is still unfortunately very much on my summer playlist. I also like “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I—monkeys are the best.