Practices
Education
- J.D.The University of Texas School of Lawwith honors1991
- B.A.College of William and MaryPhi Beta Kappa1985
Laura Ferguson specializes in appellate litigation and resolving complex litigation matters through dispositive motions. She has won dismissals in a dozen cases on motions to dismiss or for summary judgment and has won numerous appeals, including a unanimous decision from the Supreme Court. Ms. Ferguson is skilled at finding the winning argument and crafting clear, readable, accurate, persuasive briefs that get results for her clients. She also regularly submits amicus briefs at the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals on behalf of clients on a wide range of issues.
With 20 years of experience as a litigator, Ms. Ferguson has extensive experience in all aspects of civil litigation, including managing the fact and expert discovery process (including foreign discovery) and preparing the case for trial. In managing the discovery process, her approach is to stay focused on the issues that matter to her client, being strategic in when to bring issues to the court and to avoid being drawn into costly, needless sparring with opposing counsel. Her representations often involve high stakes, multi-year litigation involving issues of first impression. Her engagements have spanned a variety of subject areas, including the creditability of foreign taxes, whether non-sovereign foreign governmental organizations can be sued under various human rights statutes, the extra-territorial reach of U.S. patent laws, the constitutionality of USDA administrative claims resolution process and the scope of ERISA preemption.
- Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority, 132 S. Ct. 1702 (2012) (won unanimous decision holding that corporations and other organizational defendants cannot be sued for international human rights violations under the Torture Victim Protection Act).
- Moon v. Moon, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 220105 (Dec. 19, 2019) (won motion to dismiss multi-count complaint on ecclesiastical abstention grounds).
- FFWPUI v. Moon, No. 2011 CA3721, Superior Court, District of Columbia (Mar. 28, 2019) (won motion for summary judgment on breach of fiduciary duty claim).
- Shafi v. Palestinian Authority, 642 F.3d 1088 (DC Cir. 2011) (secured affirmance of dismissal of Alien Tort Statute lawsuit for failure to satisfy state action requirement).
- Estate of Ahuva Amergi v. Palestinian Authority, 611 F.3d 1350 (11th Cir. 2010) (secured affirmance of dismissal of Alien Tort Statute lawsuit for failure to establish violation of the law of nations).
- Gilmore v. Palestinian Interim Self-Government Auth., No. 01-853, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102093 (D.DC July 28, 2014) (won motion for summary judgment in suit brought under U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act).
- Cantu v. United States, No. 13-5044, 565 Fed. Appx. 7; 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 12886 (D.C. Cir. 2014) (won reversal of dismissal for lack of standing in Equal Protection Clause case).
- Estate of Klieman v. Palestinian Auth., No. 04-1173, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25167 (D.DC Mar. 3, 2015) (won dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction on a motion for reconsideration, for a case that had been pending for ten years).
- Safra v. Palestinian Auth., No. 14-669, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16492 (D.DC Feb. 11, 2015) (won motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction).
- Livnat v. Palestinian Auth., No. 14-668, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16522 (D.DC Feb. 11, 2015) (won motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction).
- Ungar v. Palestine Liberation Organization, 599 F.3d 79 (1st Cir. 2010) (obtained reversal of district court decision denying Rule 60(b)(6) relief from $116 million final default judgment).
- Black & Decker Corp. v. United States, 436 F.3d 431 (4th Cir. 2006) (secured affirmance of motion for summary judgment on statutory basis for tax treatment of contingent liability transaction; remanded on economic substance).
- Brubaker v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 8209 (DC Cir. Apr. 10, 2007) (secured affirmance of district court's grant of summary judgment in client's favor on issue of ERISA plan interpretation).
- Legal 500: Tax: International Tax, 2019
- Legal 500: Tax: Tax – Contentious, 2019
- Member, William. B. Bryant American Inn of Court
Bar Admissions
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District of Columbia
Washington, DC, October
Washington, DC, May 29, 2019 – Miller & Chevalier Chartered announced today that the firm received practice and individual rankings in the 2018 edition of Legal 500 United
Miller & Chevalier is pleased to announce that the firm was recognized as a "Gold Level Donor" to the DC Bar's Raising the Bar campaign.
Washington, DC, October 26, 2018 – Miller & Chevalier Chartered proudly announces that the firm was named as one of the top 30 investigations practices globally in the Glob
Miller & Chevalier is pleased to announce that the firm was one of only five law firms in Washington, DC, to increase its commitment level to the D.C. Bar's Raising the Bar campaign.
03.03.2017
In this article, Amelia Hairston-Porter and Laura Ferguson discuss SEC v Straub, a September 2016 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) civil enforcement action.
In a closely watched case, a district court last week quashed an administrative summons seeking disclosure of a company’s tax accrual workpapers.
LMSB has announced its Industry Issue Focus ("IIF") program as part of its effort to coordinate its approach to developing strategic issues for enforcement and potential litigation.
Today, the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded the decision of the Court of Federal Claims in Coltec Industries, Inc. v.