Having argued an average of two cases in each U.S. Supreme Court term since January of 2017, Haynes Boone Partner Dan Geyser has become a frequent presence at One First St. Law360 recently talked to Geyser about his successful legal career arguing before the Supreme Court and how he approaches each case. Read an excerpt of the article below:
Geyser simply likes the challenge of solving the legal puzzle presented in each case, no matter the topic. He told Law360 in an interview that he's always searching for new approaches to cases and ways to stitch together themes that'll win over justices on both ends of the Supreme Court's ideological spectrum.
"I do like the challenge of representing the underdog," Geyser said. "With most [cases], people did think we were slated to lose. It really makes it even more special when you can pull out a win when conventional thinking says you can't."
That willingness to grapple with any area of the law, along with his knack for distilling complex issues into simple language and his penchant for sussing out circuit splits, is the reason behind Geyser's success so far, former colleagues and fellow appellate practitioners told Law360. It's also why Geyser is one of 12 lawyers poised to become the high court bar's leading voices.
Geyser's former colleagues told Law360 they were immediately impressed by his unflappable demeanor during oral arguments, his willingness to give his time and advice to younger lawyers and his ability to churn out briefs in record time.
"Dan could basically function as his own appellate practice," Stris & Maher founding partner Peter Stris said. …
Even though he's at a BigLaw firm now, Geyser said he still operates with a solo-practitioner mindset.
"I'm one of the few attorneys that does all the work by themselves," he said. "It takes more time, it takes more effort, but I think the work product ends up being slightly better."
He said he hopes to involve younger attorneys in future cases as he grows his practice at Haynes Boone, as it'll give him a chance to provide them with the same critical experience he received as a young attorney. … But he wants to make sure the roles he does give them are meaningful.
"Doing a bunch of research ... is incredibly important, but it's not as rewarding as trying to write part of a brief," he said.
Geyser said writing briefs is how he has honed his craft and come up with novel arguments that have won cases, such as Bittner v. United States. In that case, a 5-4 court found the Bank Secrecy Act's $10,000 penalty for non-willful failure to file reports applies on a per-report, not per-account, basis. …
Geyser said, he'll remember it most as the argument during which he was interrupted by three protesters. …
The first protester interrupted Geyser as he greeted the court. The second and third interrupted his opening statements. But Geyser resumed argument each time without pause, displaying the unflappability his former colleagues admire in him.
"Any failure to file a report thus gives rise to a single statutory violation — (Interruption.) — no matter how many accounts a person has or how many mistakes a person might make on a single form," Geyser said, according to the argument's transcript.
