Chad DeVeaux is a Partner of the firm. His primary areas of practice are commercial litigation, class actions, constitutional law, First Amendment and anti-SLAPP litigation, administrative law, white collar crime, antitrust, and unfair competition litigation.

Chad brings a wealth of experience to Bartko. Before joining the firm, he spent seven years as a Constitutional Law professor at Concordia University School of Law and Western State University and nine years as a commercial litigator. He is a nationally recognized expert in the field of horizontal federalism—the law governing the delineation of powers between the governments of different states. He is best known for his work on the dormant Commerce Clause and its applicability to multi-state class actions, environmental regulations, and marijuana laws. He has testified before the United States House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee as an expert on the Constitution’s extraterritoriality doctrine, the dormant Commerce Clause, the Tenth Amendment, and the scope of Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce.

Chad is experienced in all aspects of civil litigation, including law and motion, discovery, negotiation, and appeals. He has authored briefs at all levels of the federal and state court systems and successfully argued more than 30 matters before federal and state courts. He is particularly accomplished in constitutional law cases. He has been on the winning side of decisions involving the First Amendment, California’s anti-SLAPP statute, the dormant Commerce Clause, procedural and substantive due process, administrative law, housing rights, conflict of laws, the separation of powers, and federal enclave law. He also specializes in Federal Indian law.

Chad has also provided commentary on constitutional law matters for the Washington Post, NPR affiliate KBSX, ABC affiliate KIVI, C-Span, Sirius XM’s POTUS program, and the legal blog PrawfsBlawg.

Education

  • Harvard Law School, LL.M. (Constitutional Law)
  • University of Notre Dame, J.D., summa cum laude
  • Bowling Green State University, B.A.

Professional Affiliations

  • St. Thomas More Society
  • Notre Dame and Harvard Alumni Associations

Bar Admissions

  • State Bar of California
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Central District of California

Honors & Awards

  • Professor of the Year, Concordia University School of Law, 2012-13
  • Dean Joseph O’Meara Award, University of Notre Dame, 2001
  • Best Law School Exam/Paper (equivalent of AmJur or CALI award): Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Federal Indian Law

Representative Cases

  • Hillside Dairy, Inc. v. Lyons, 539 U.S. 59 (2003) (California’s agriculture regulations not exempted from Dormant Commerce Clause restrictions).
  • Att’y Gen. v. Clarke (2008) ZLR [SC] (Zambia), (finding presidential order to deport British newspaper columnist for satirical cartoon violated right to freedom of the press).
  • Societe Des Hotels Meridien v. LaSalle Hotel Operating Partnership L.P., 280 F.3d 126 (2d Cir. 2004) (reversing District Court’s dismissal of Lanham Act claim).
  • Laub v. Horbaczewski, 2019 WL 3492402 (C.D. Cal. July 30, 2019) (granting anti-SLAPP motion striking defamation counterclaim filed by counterclaimant represented by Morrison & Foerster and Davis Polk targeting edits to counterclaimant’s Wikipedia page based on finding that challenged edits were not defamatory and were protected by the First Amendment).
  • Swords to Plowshares v. Kemp, 423 F. Supp. 2d 1031 (N.D. Cal. 2005) (San Francisco’s Presidio remains federal enclave outside ambit of state regulatory authority).

Publications & Speaking Engagements