Orly Degani focuses on appellate litigation matters. She has extensive experience authoring appellate briefs and writs and presenting oral argument in both federal and state courts of appeals. She also has briefed and argued cases in the California Supreme Court. In addition to her regular appellate practice, Ms. Degani has devoted considerable time, including pro bono time, to matters involving the welfare of animals, litigating such cases in both the trial and appellate courts.
Before joining Akin Gump, Ms. Degani honed her appellate skills at an appellate boutique firm in Los Angeles, and then in the appellate department of a top international litigation firm. She also was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, where, in addition to prosecuting criminal cases, she handled criminal appeals for the Office's appellate section. Ms. Degani also has taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California (USC) Law School.
Ms. Degani received her B.A. magna cum laude in 1989 from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She received her J.D. with distinction in 1994 from Stanford Law School, where she was associate editor of the Stanford Law Review and received the Hilmer Ohelmann, Jr., Award for Excellence in Legal Research and Writing. After earning her law degree, Ms. Degani served as a law clerk to the Honorable David R. Thompson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Ms. Degani is a member of the California Bar. She serves on the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Appellate Courts Committee and Animal Issues Committee. In 2005, she was named a "Top 20 Under 40" attorney by the California Daily Journal. She was included on the list of Southern California Super Lawyers - Rising Stars from 2004-2007, and on the list of Southern California Super Lawyers in 2009.