Sean D. Jordan

Partner
Austin, P: 512.721.2679
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Sean Jordan is Partner-in-Charge of Sutherland’s Austin office and co-leader of the firm’s Appellate Litigation Practice. For nearly 20 years, Sean has handled complex civil litigation and appellate cases in both government service and private practice. Sean represents clients in appeals involving commercial, class action, energy, insurance and constitutional issues.

Prior to joining the firm, Sean served as the Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the Office of the Solicitor General of Texas. During his service in the Solicitor General’s Office, he represented the State of Texas, its agencies and officials in more than 40 appeals before federal and state courts, consistently obtaining successful results. His wins for the State include: successfully defending Texas and winning a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that the World Court cannot bind the U.S. justice system and the President cannot order state courts to obey the World Court; an appeal successfully overturning a trial court ruling that would have allowed terminated Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach to seek more than $10 million in breach-of-contract damages; and obtaining the reversal of a federal district court’s class certification order in a case raising constitutional challenges to the Texas foster-care system.

Sean has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and written numerous Supreme Court briefs, twice winning the National Association of Attorneys’ General Best Brief Award for excellence in Supreme Court brief-writing. As Principal Deputy Solicitor General, Sean led a team of up to 15 appellate lawyers charged with supervising all of the federal and state court appeals handled by the 800-lawyer Texas Attorney General’s Office. He also coordinated the amicus curiae practice of the State of Texas in the U.S. Supreme Court, and federal circuit and state appellate courts.

While in private practice, Sean handled extensive appellate litigation as well as personal injury and complex commercial cases in federal and state trial courts, with an emphasis on class action defense.

Prior to practicing law, Sean served in the United States Army as an infantryman and paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
Sean’s recent representative experience includes:

Asgeirsson v. Abbott, No. 11–50441, 2012 WL 4352400 (5th Cir. Sept. 25, 2012): Successfully defended the constitutional validity of a core provision of the Texas Open Meetings Act, defeating a First Amendment challenge brought by a group of Texas municipal officials.
M.D. v. Perry, 675 F.3d 832 (5th Cir. 2012): In a proposed class action raising constitutional challenges to the Texas foster-care system, successfully overturned a federal district court’s order certifying an injunctive class comprised of all children in Texas’ permanent managing conservatorship.
Coleman v. Maryland Court of Appeals, 132 S.Ct. 1327 (2012): Submitted an amicus brief on behalf of Texas and 25 other states successfully arguing that the “self care” provision of the Family and Medical Leave Act does not validly abrogate the states’ sovereign immunity. The Court’s opinion upholding the states’ immunity cited and quoted the brief submitted by Texas and the other amici states.
Leach v. Texas Tech Univ., 335 S.W.3d 386 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2011, pet. denied): Successfully overturned on appeal a trial court ruling that would have allowed terminated head football coach Mike Leach to seek more than $10 million in breach-of-contract damages from Texas Tech University.

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Jennings v. Owens, 602 F.3d 652 (5th Cir. 2010): Successfully overturned on appeal a federal district court’s order holding that Texas’ system for imposing sex-offender conditions on parolees violated the Due Process Clause.
Univ. of Tex. at El Paso v. Herrera, 322 S.W.3d 192 (Tex. 2010): Successfully overturned on appeal lower court orders holding that Congress validly abrogated the States’ sovereign immunity in the “self care” provision of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Balentine v. Thaler, 626 F.3d 842 (5th Cir. 2010): Appearing in this habeas corpus case after an adverse decision from the Fifth Circuit, Sean filed a petition for rehearing that persuaded the court to withdraw its prior opinion and substitute a new opinion upholding Texas’ position that a “boilerplate” dismissal of a subsequent habeas corpus application is not a ruling on the merits of an inmate’s underlying claims.
Medellin v. Texas, 552 U.S. 491 (2008): Successfully defended Texas and won a landmark decision in the United States Supreme Court that the World Court cannot bind the U.S. justice system, and the President of the United States cannot order state courts to obey the World Court.
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008): Primary drafter of an amicus brief for 31 states successfully defending the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Baze v. Rees, 553 U.S. 35 (2008): Primary drafter of an amicus brief for 20 states successfully defending the constitutional validity of Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol against an Eighth Amendment challenge.
Tex. Dep’t of Crim. Justice v. Thomas, 263 S.W.3d 212 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2007, pet. denied): Successfully overturned on appeal a trial court decision denying a nurse’s summary-judgment motion based on qualified immunity. The family of a Texas inmate who died during a cell transfer brought this section 1983 case, accusing the nurse of violating the Eighth Amendment by failing to timely administer CPR. The court of appeals reversed the trial court’s order denying the nurse’s summary-judgment motion and rendered judgment for the nurse.
San Antonio State Hospital v. Guerrero, 2006 WL 3779790 (Tex. App.—San Antonio, Dec. 27, 2006, no pet.) (mem. op.): Successfully overturned on appeal a jury verdict against the San Antonio State Hospital in a premises defect case.
Clark v. Strayhorn, 184 S.W.3d 906 (Tex. App.—Austin 2006, pet. denied): Successfully defended the state from a Takings Clause case brought on behalf of a purported class challenging the Texas Comptroller’s handling of unclaimed property.
Texas v. Leavitt, 547 U.S. 1204 (2006): Handled an original action filed in the United States Supreme Court by Texas and several other states challenging the constitutional validity of the so-called “clawback" provision of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, which requires states to pay a portion of the costs associated with providing federal Medicare drug coverage to persons eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
White Buffalo Ventures, LLC v. Univ. of Tex. at Austin, 420 F.3d 366 (5th Cir. 2005): Successfully defended the University of Texas at Austin from First Amendment and preemption challenges to the University’s regulation of spam directed to its students.
Ramirez v. Dretke, 396 F.3d 646 (5th Cir. 2005): Successfully overturned on appeal a federal district court’s order granting habeas relief to a Texas felon, the trigger-man in a drive-by shooting, who had been convicted of aggravated assault.
Villasan v. O’Rourke, 166 S.W.3d 752 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2005, pet. denied): Successfully overturned on appeal a district court’s order refusing to dismiss a government employee under the applicable provisions of section 101.106(e) of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code.

PUBLICATIONS

Author, “Transparency is Key to Democratic System,” Houston Chronicle (October 4, 2012)

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Speaker, “What In-House Counsel Need to Know About Rule 202 and Pre-Suit Depositions in Texas,” Texas Lawyer In-House Counsel Summit (November 1, 2012)
Speaker, “Pre-Suit Depositions Under Rule 202: A Survey of Hot Button Issues,” 36th Annual Page Keeton Civil Litigation Seminar (October 25, 2012)
Speaker, “Class Actions After Wal-Mart v. Dukes: A New Ballgame,” American Association of Public Welfare Attorneys’ (AAPWA) 43rd Annual National Training and Continuing Education Conference (September 10, 2012)
Speaker, “The Impact of Class Certification on Child Protective Services Agencies,” American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) Symposium (September 8, 2012)
Speaker, “Appellate Strategies: Insights on the Many Strategic Issues Facing an Appellate Advocate Before Putting Pen to Paper,” National Association of Attorneys General Training and Research Institute’s 2012 Appellate Practice Conference (May 2012)
Speaker, “Sovereign Immunity and the UDJA – Recent Developments,” 2011 Suing and Defending Governmental Entities Course (2011)
Speaker, “A Witches’ Brew: How Medellin v. Texas Tested Every Aspect of Our Constitutional Structure,” Teachers’ Law School Conference (2009)
Speaker, “Advanced Litigation: Preemption Issues,” Austin Bar Association Conference (2009)
Speaker, “Public Displays in Texas – How Texas Has Fared in the Supreme Court,” Texas Lyceum Conference (2007)

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Education

J.D., with honors, University of Texas School of Law, 1994

B.A., summa cum laude, University of Texas at Austin, 1991, Phi Beta Kappa

Bar Admissions

Texas