Theane D. Evangelis

Class Actions, Appellate & Constitutional Law, Employment Litigation

Los Angeles

What Theane Evangelis appreciates most about her litigation and appellate practice is working on matters that raise novel, even first-impression, issues. "Those cases are so rewarding professionally because you really have to go back to first principles and look at issues ... for the first time," she said.

As a co-chair of Gibson Dunn's global litigation practice group, Evangelis takes on those kinds of cases often. For instance, a couple of years ago she argued and won an important ruling from the 9th Circuit on behalf of Reddit. The decision constrained an exception amended into Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Does 1-6 v. Reddit Inc., 51 F.4th 1137 (9th Circ., dec'd. Oct. 24, 2022)

Evangelis also won a string of appeals across the country holding that gig-economy companies like Uber and Grubhub can require rideshare drivers to arbitrate claims. The courts agreed with her that the drivers are not exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act because they are not "engaged in interstate commerce." Singh v. Uber Technologies, Inc., 67 F.4th 550 (3rd Circ., dec'd. April 26, 2023).

But what Evangelis calls "the highlight of my professional career" was arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in April to defend local governments' right to enforce laws restricting camping on public property. City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, 23-175 (U.S., arg'd. April 22, 2024).

The 9th Circuit had twice ruled that those laws violate the 8th Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment when cities use them to kick homeless people from public areas when there aren't sufficient shelter beds. Evangelis was brought in after the first case, against Boise, Idaho, to write the cert petition, which was denied. Then, when the 9th Circuit issued a similar ruling in a class action against Grants Pass, Ore., Evangelis signed on again.

"In the five years ... between the Boise decision and the panel's decision in Grants Pass, we had seen firsthand the consequences of constitutionalizing such a complex area of social policy," Evangelis said. "We'd seen a complete paralysis in cities all up and down the West Coast."

She argued that the 8th Amendment has been understood to focus on punishment, "not the conduct that can be regulated in the first place."

Following the 9th Circuit's ruling, Grants Pass had "to effectively give up all of its public spaces to dangerous encampments." The ruling has "blocked cities' attempts to solve the homelessness crisis" because it prevents "incentivizing" people from camps into shelters where they can receive services, she said.

"It's an existential threat to our cities, and it's created conditions that are harming the very people that I believe the 9th Circuit intended to help," she said.

Evangelis had clerked for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, so being able to argue to the court for the first time "felt like coming home," she said.

"It was truly an extraordinary experience to be there and to just engage in a dialogue with the justices on such important issues."

-- Don DeBenedictis