James E. Tysse

James co-leads Akin Gump’s administrative and regulatory litigation practice and leads its D.C. Litigation section. A partner in the firm’s Supreme Court and appellate practice, he focuses on litigation against the federal government under the Administrative Procedure Act and other regulatory laws. He has brought successful suits for major companies and industry associations in federal district courts and courts of appeals across the country. His work also includes regulatory challenges at the intersection of international trade and national security. Most recently, he represented Learning Resources, the plaintiff in a successful Supreme Court challenge to the IEEPA tariffs.

James develops litigation strategy, writes briefs and argues cases at both the trial and appellate stages. He has prepared scores of appellate briefs, including merits and certiorari briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as briefs in nearly every federal court of appeals and numerous state and tribal appellate courts. His oral advocacy includes appeals and dispositive motions in most federal circuit courts of appeals, the Florida Supreme Court and numerous state intermediate appellate courts. Beyond his regulatory litigation practice, he helps clients develop appellate strategy for matters before the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal and state courts.

Law360 named James an “Appellate Rising Star.” Since 2020, he has received The American Lawyer’s Litigation Daily’s Litigator of the Week recognition and seven additional honorable mentions. The firm named him its 2017 “Pro Bono Partner of the Year” for work on behalf of human rights and immigration clients.

• U.S. Supreme Court win in landmark Learning Resources case striking down IEEPA tariffs (S. Ct. 2026).
• Obtained reversal of class certification order for major alcoholic beverage company in 4th Circuit (4th Cir. 2026). 
• Obtained reversal of Telephone Consumer Protection Act judgment in 7th Circuit (7th Cir. 2026).
• Successfully briefed, argued, and obtained vacatur of major FERC order on compensability of reactive power on behalf of Vistra in the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Cir. 2025).
• Obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of a major space technology company that enjoined a DOJ investigation on constitutional and administrative-law grounds (S.D. TX 2025).
• Successfully argued and achieved major legal victory for major U.S. business groups by successfully challenging a new rule from the NLRB—the Board’s biggest rulemaking of the Biden Administration—that would have broadly expanded “joint employer” liability nationwide (E.D. TX 2025).
• Argued and won a significant criminal defense victory for Bijan Rafiekian—a former U.S. official and erstwhile business partner of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn—when the 4th Circuit affirmed a lower court’s order granting a new trial, and the DOJ dropped charges.
• Argued and won a D.C. Circuit petition for review reversing wrongful denial of pandemic-relief funds for major concert producer.
• Successfully led emergency appeal in a highly expedited administrative law direct appeal in the 5th Circuit that protected a Texas small business’s ability to operate, first by obtaining a comprehensive emergency stay decision and then in a final judgment on the merits.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of a major automobile rental company in a challenge to actions by the City and County of San Francisco and San Francisco International Airport.
• Alongside co-counsel the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), the ACLU of Florida and Community Justice Project, argued and achieved a precedent-setting victory at the Florida Supreme Court, which provided much-needed clarity on the application of Florida’s controversial anti-protest law, H.B. 1.
• Successfully argued on behalf of Bolivian families in a groundbreaking human rights case in the 11th Circuit against Bolivia’s former president and defense minister. The unanimous victory in the court of appeals was profiled by The American Lawyer, which recognized James as a “Litigator of the Week” in August 2020.
• Successfully represented the Gun Lake Tribe of Michigan in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the continued operation of the tribe’s most valuable asset, a casino. Served as second chair and as the primary brief writer, and helped develop the winning theory.
• Argued and won an important ERISA victory for Caesars Entertainment Corporation in the 3rd Circuit in a claim brought forward by a multiemployer pension fund for engineering work performed by union workers at their casinos, after the closing of one of their facilities. The 3rd Circuit accepted Caesars’ no-liability arguments and unanimously ruled in Caesars’ favor.
• Defended the National Football League in a dispute over a disciplinary action taken by the League against Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson for harming his young son. After the NFL Players’ Association sued the NFL in federal court, he helped devise the trial and appellate strategy and served as primary brief writer and as second chair in the unanimous victory in the 8th Circuit.
• Successfully represented a large trade association in the U.S. Court of International Trade in a challenge to a Treasury Department regulation that purported to restrict excise tax refunds.
• Argued and won post-trial appeal in the 4th Circuit on behalf of a major construction company in an employment discrimination lawsuit against the company’s founder and former CEO.
• Successfully represented a national restaurant chain in an important joint employer appeal in the 9th Circuit, while serving as second-chair and primary brief writer.
• Argued and won unanimous affirmance in the D.C. Circuit on behalf of Starbucks in a discrimination case, ending the proceedings with a victory before summary judgment and trial.
• Successfully argued and obtained funds for pro bono and other charitable causes in an appeal of a fee award in litigation over Akin’s prior successful challenge to Texas’s statutory prohibition of same-sex marriage.

• J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 2006

• B.A., University of Virginia, 2002

• The American Lawyer, Litigator of the Week, 2020 (plus seven honorable mentions).
• The Legal 500 US, Appellate: Supreme Courts (States and Federal), 2022 and Appellate: Courts of Appeals/Supreme Courts (States and Federal), 2024.
• Law360, Appellate Rising Star, 2018.
• Lawdragon, 500 Leading Litigators in America.
• Washington, D.C. Bar Association, Pro Bono High Honor Roll.
• Akin, Firmwide Pro Bono Partner of the Year, 2017.

• Member, Council for Court Excellence Board of Directors.
• Member, Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court.

• Panelist, “Recent Supreme Court Cases and Their Impact on OFAC, BIS and DDTC Enforcement,” Akin Panel Discussion, New York, October 17, 2024.
• Guest Speaker, “Goodbye, Chevron. Hello, lawsuits!,” NPR’s “The Indicator from Planet Money” Podcast, July 18, 2024.
• Panelist, “Discrimination Against LGBT People in a Shifting Legal Landscape: Progress, Regress, and Other Recent Developments,” The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, Washington, D.C., April 19, 2018.
• Panelist, “Forum Selection—Where Am I? Where Do I Want to Be?” Association of Corporate Counsel, National Capital Region, Washington, D.C., October 6, 2015.