Spiva and Hartnett HOME ABOUT ATTORNEYS PRACTICE AREAS NEWS REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
1776 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tel: 202.785.0601
Fax: 202.785.0697

bspiva@spivahartnett.com
khartnett@spivahartnett.com



ATTORNEYS

BRUCE V. SPIVA

BRUCE V. SPIVA

Bruce V. Spiva has tried cases and argued appeals in areas ranging from civil rights, Congressional redistricting and antitrust, to privacy and First Amendment law. He is a founding partner of Spiva & Hartnett LLP, a majority-minority owned law firm. Mr. Spiva was a partner at Jenner & Block LLP prior to starting his own practice. He obtained a law degree in 1992 from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor and the Treasurer of the Harvard Law Review, and a B.A. in 1988 from Yale University. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jerome Farris of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Spiva represents consumers in several major class actions involving antitrust, unfair competition, breach of contract, and other issues. He also represents plaintiffs in civil rights litigation, including a challenge to Texas ballot-restrictions that target minority voters. Mr. Spiva won a victory on behalf of federal prisoners in a First Amendment and privacy case he argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Mr. Spiva represents businesses and associations in commercial litigation, antitrust, First Amendment, insurance coverage, class actions and a broad range of other matters. He has written and contributed to numerous briefs to the United States Supreme Court, including an amicus brief on Internet file sharing in the MGM, et al. v. Grokster, et al. case.

Mr. Spiva was co-lead counsel in a major class action lawsuit on behalf of African-American public housing residents against the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Miami-Dade County challenging racial segregation in public housing. The lawsuit resulted in a consent order that allowed thousands of public housing residents the chance to obtain better housing in integrated neighborhoods. He also successfully prosecuted a housing discrimination suit against the District of Columbia on behalf of Latino and other minority residents and was among the team of lawyers on that case awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award for Pro Bono Assistance by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Mr. Spiva recently testified on the Robinson-Patman Act as part of an expert panel before the Antitrust Modernization Commission. He is the author of numerous articles, including most recently "Indirect Purchaser Litigation on Behalf of Consumers After CAFA" in the Fall 2005 issue of Antitrust, and has presented at numerous conferences, including those of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, American Bar Association, Conference Board, Harvard Law School Black Alumni, and the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers' Association.

Mr. Spiva is the Chair of the Board of DC Vote, an organization dedicated to securing Congressional voting rights for the residents of the District of Columbia. He recently testified before the United States Congress in favor of the D.C. Voting Rights Act, a bill that would give residents of D.C. a representative in Congress, and that was passed by the House of Representatives. He is a former co-chair of the D.C. Bar Litigation Section Steering Committee, and he serves on the Advisory Boards of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies and the American Antitrust Institute. Mr. Spiva is a member of the American Bar Association and the National Bar Association. He is also a member of the bars of the District of Columbia, the States of Maryland and California, the United States Supreme Court, and several other federal courts.

KATHLEEN R. HARTNETT

KATHLEEN R. HARTNETT

Kathleen R. Hartnett has litigated a wide range of trial and appellate matters involving complex constitutional and statutory issues. Her areas of expertise include the First Amendment, consumer and securities fraud, civil rights, copyright and trademark, and appellate litigation.

Ms. Hartnett has successfully represented the video game industry in First Amendment challenges to governmental restrictions, and she helped secure a United States Supreme Court victory against digital piracy in MGM v. Grokster. She has represented a variety of parties before the Supreme Court, including Indian tribes and patent and trademark holders. Ms. Hartnett has litigated in federal and state court and in arbitration on behalf of businesses, associations, and individuals in cases involving business disputes, constitutional law, trademark, copyright, and telecommunications. She was part of the trial team responsible for winning one of the largest single-plaintiff jury verdicts in American history in a securities fraud case. She has performed internal investigations for businesses and non-profit organizations and has counseled such entities concerning their compliance with federal and state law.

Ms. Hartnett serves as counsel for nationwide classes of plaintiffs in consumer fraud and discrimination lawsuits. She has represented organizations and individuals who seek to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation. Ms. Hartnett's substantial pro bono experience includes briefing and arguing an appeal from a second-degree murder conviction, securing the release of an INS detainee in federal habeas corpus proceedings, assisting in the representation of a Georgia death row inmate, and co-authoring various amicus curiae briefs in the Supreme Court and other courts.

Prior to forming Spiva & Hartnett LLP, Ms. Hartnett worked at Jenner & Block LLP, where she received the Albert E. Jenner, Jr. Pro Bono award. Ms. Hartnett clerked for United States Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and for Judge Merrick B. Garland of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She holds a law degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor and the Treasurer of the Harvard Law Review, and a member of the winning team in the Ames Moot Court Competition. She received an A.B. in Government, magna cum laude, from Harvard College.

Ms. Hartnett is a regular participant in the Supreme Court Institute Moot Court Program at Georgetown Law School. She is a member of the American Bar Association, as well as a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia, the State of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Fifth Circuits and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.




 
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