Dan Woods

Los Angeles

Practice Type: Litigation

Specialty: Complex litigation

Woods won a historic civil rights victory last fall, when a California federal court jury found the U.S. government's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, prohibiting homosexuals from openly serving in the military, unconstitutional.

The case came to the litigator seven years ago, when an associate at Woods' firm suggested he represent the Log Cabin Republicans in challenging the statute.

"He thought I was a good litigator, and I was in charge of the firm's pro bono work at the time," Woods said. He added, with a laugh, "He also thought the pitch might be more persuasive coming from a 50-year-old, straight white guy who's married with three kids as opposed to coming from an activist group."

After researching the issue, Woods decided they had a good case and agreed to take on the federal government. In the beginning, he said, he didn't think the litigation would go on for as long as it has. But he was aware of its potential importance.

"As we got closer to the trial and kept winning motions and watching the facts evolve, I became convinced we were going to make history with this case." He added, however, "I tried to avoid saying we were trying to make history to the judge. I wanted her to just treat this like every other case."

Years of fighting motions and plowing through discovery and briefings culminated in a two-week trial in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in July 2010. Woods considers his closing argument a highlight of his career.

"I tried to hit all the right emotional notes without going over the top," he said.

He also had fun stepping out of his usual style. "Most of my cases are bank A against bank B," he said, and he enjoyed crafting arguments for a more highly charged trial. "I was able to say in the closing that the government would rather give a convicted felon a gun than a gay guy a typewriter," he said.

- Anna Scott