Daily Journal Profiles Rex Heinke on His 150th Appellate Case
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A career milestone for Akin Gump Supreme Court and appellate practice co-head Rex Heinke was covered by Daily Journal in “Los Angeles lawyer Rex Heinke has argued his 150th appellate case.”
The matter, an argument before the 1st District Court of Appeal, found the panel affirming a multimillion-dollar award for client Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co.
Heinke called the court’s upholding of a judgment totaling more than $15 million “very satisfying.”
The article looks at some of Heinke’s most memorable legal contests, including what he calls “a fascinating case” against the government of Turkmenistan, which had requested a contract renegotiation with client Bridas S.A.P.I.C. and, when refused, kicked out the Argentine oil and gas company without paying.
Two visits by his Akin Gump team to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yielded enforcement, on Bridas’ behalf, of an international arbitration award of nearly a billion dollars with interest.
The article traces Heinke’s path from a childhood on the move around the western United States to Columbia Law School and then to Big Law, where his interest in media law found a good fit, as his first appellate argument involved representing the Times-Mirror Company in a case in which a pro se litigant alleged defamation against the Los Angeles Times.
His representation of media clients led him into more appellate work, until he was asked to join Akin Gump’s appellate practice in 2001.
His practice co-head, Pratik Shah, said of him, “Rex is a terrific appellate lawyer. He’s one of the most experienced appellate lawyers in California and in the whole country.”
Rex Heinke’s career milestone was also profiled by Law.com. Read about it here.