Biography

A leading Supreme Court litigator and nationally recognized expert on criminal procedure, Jeffrey Fisher has argued several and worked on dozens of other cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. His successes include bringing and winning the landmark cases of Blakely v. Washington, in which the Court held the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial applies to sentencing guidelines and Crawford v. Washington, in which he persuaded the Court to adopt a new approach to the Constitution's Confrontation Clause.

In 2006, the National Law Journal named Professor Fisher one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America. In addition to his Supreme Court practice, Professor Fisher has published several articles on various criminal and constitutional issues, and he speaks regularly to judicial conferences and leading legal organizations. He joined the law school faculty from the national law firm of Davis Wright & Tremaine LLP where he also offered his services pro bono to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Professor Fisher clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Key Works

• Jeffrey L. Fisher, What Happened-and What is Happening-to the Confrontation Clause, 15 Journal of Law & Policy 587 (2007).
• Jeffrey L. Fisher, Categorical Requirements in Constitutional Criminal Procedure, 94 Georgetown Law Journal 1493 (2006).
• Jeffrey L. Fisher, State Action and the Enforcement of Complulsory Arbitration Agreements Against Employment Discrimination Claims, Hofstra Labor and Employment Journal 289 (2000).

In the News

• NYT’s Greenhouse: Supreme Court Erred in Child Rape Case
  The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, July 02, 2008
• In Court Ruling On Executions, A Factual Flaw
  The New York Times, July 02, 2008
• A Win by McCain Could Push Split Court to Right
  The Washington Post, June 29, 2008
• Exxon Valdez Ruling A Precursor Of Future Damage Award Limits?
  San Francisco Chronicle, June 26, 2008
• Supreme Court Rejects Death Penalty For Child Rape
  Kansas City Star-Telegram, June 26, 2008

Courses & Programs

Courses

• Supreme Court Litigation Clinic

Programs

• Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, Co-Director

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• Jeffrey L. Fisher, The Truth About the "Not for Truth" Exception to Crawford, The Champion, January 2008.
• Pamela S. Karlan, Jeffrey L. Fisher, et. al., Brief in Opposition: Dickinson v. Collier, No. 07-197 in the Supreme Court of the United States (November 2007).
• Jeffrey Fisher, Rita and the State of the Sixth Amendment, SCOTUSblog, June 22, 2007.
• Jeffrey L. Fisher, What Happened-and What is Happening-to the Confrontation Clause, 15 Journal of Law & Policy 587 (2007).
• Jeffrey L. Fisher, Categorical Requirements in Constitutional Criminal Procedure, 94 Georgetown Law Journal 1493 (2006).
• Jeffrey L. Fisher, No Clear Ideologies, National Law Journal, August 3, 2005, p. 14.
• Jeffrey L. Fisher, Drawing the Line in Crawford and Blakely, 28 The Champion 18 (2004).
• Bruce E. H. Johnson and Jeffrey L. Fisher, Why Format, Not Content, Is the Key to Identifying Commercial Speech, (Symposium Issue on Nike v. Kasky and the Modern Commercial Speech Doctrine), 54 Case Western Reserve Law Review 1243 (2004).
• Jeffrey L. Fisher, Nike v. Kasky: Will the Shield of the Commercial Speech Doctrine Become a Sword?, 20 Communications Lawyer 1 (2003).
• Jeffrey L. Fisher, State Action and the Enforcement of Complulsory Arbitration Agreements Against Employment Discrimination Claims, Hofstra Labor and Employment Journal 289 (2000).

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affliations

• Co-Chair, Amicus Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Co-Chair, Oral Arguments Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Honors and Awards

• Honoree, The National Law Journal, "The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America", 2006
• Recipient, Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers William O. Douglas Award (organization’s highest honor), 2005
• Honoree, National Law Journal's "40 Under 40", 2005
• Recipient, Order of the Coif, University of Michigan Law School