Erika Maley

Erika is co-chair of the firm’s issues and appeals practice group. A former Solicitor General of Virginia, Erika is an experienced appellate and trial-level litigator. She has argued dozens of cases in federal and state courts, including a prevailing argument in the US Supreme Court.

Erika represents clients on a wide range of issues, including complex questions of constitutional law, statutory interpretation, and justiciability. She has experience handling environmental, energy, and First Amendment matters for clients. She is also knowledgeable on federal preemption, products liability, personal jurisdiction, and sovereign immunity. She has litigated matters in numerous courts, including the US Supreme Court, US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Supreme Court of Virginia, and the Eastern District of Virginia. Erika also provides clients strategic appellate support, including for matters in the pre-litigation phase and at the trial level.

Before her time in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, Erika spent a decade practicing appellate law at a national law firm, with a focus on constitutional and statutory issues. Erika also served as a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the US Department of Justice, and clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer of the US Supreme Court and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

• Lackey v. Stinnie, 145 S.Ct. 659 (2025) (briefed and argued case holding that a preliminary injunction does not render a plaintiff a “prevailing party” for attorney’s fees)
• Taylor v. Barkes, 135 S. Ct. 2042 (2015) (obtained summary reversal of a Third Circuit ruling that senior officials of Delaware Department of Corrections could be held liable for a prisoner’s suicide)
• Life Technologies v. Promega, 137 S. Ct. 734 (2017) (obtained reversal of Federal Circuit decision, on the ground that the supply of a single component of a multicomponent invention for manufacture abroad does not give rise to liability under § 271(f)(1) of the Patent Act)
• Life Sciences Ass’n v. Ctr. for Medicare and Medicaid Serv., 2020 WL 7696050 (N.D. Cal. 2020) (obtained preliminary injunction against “Most Favored Nation” drug pricing rule)
• Jennings v. Stephens, 135 S. Ct. 793 (2015) (obtained ruling that a federal habeas petitioner need not have a certificate of appealability to raise an alternative ground for affirmance)
• Sandobal Gomez v. Bayer Corp., No. A-0680-18T4, 2020 WL 215897 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2020) (obtained ruling affirming the dismissal of product liability claims on the grounds of federal preemption and pleading deficiencies)
• Validus Reinsurance Ltd. v. United States, 786 F.3d 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (obtained ruling that the US federal excise tax imposed under Section 4371 of the Code does not apply to retrocession contracts between foreign reinsurers)
• Bayer Corp. v. Leach, 147 N.E.3d 313 (Ind. 2020) (obtained ruling dismissing several product liability claims as preempted)
• Williams v. Bayer Corp., 541 S.W.3d 594 (Mo. Ct. App. 2017) (obtained ruling dismissing several product liability claims as preempted)
• Rios v. Bayer Corp., 178 N.E. 3d 1088 (Ill. 2020) (obtained ruling that non-resident plaintiffs lacked personal jurisdiction to bring claims for injuries that occurred out of state)
• S. Home Corp. v. Settlers Crossing, 685 Fed. App’x 173 (4th Cir. 2017) (obtained ruling affirming judgment in contract dispute)

• Member, The Federalist Society
• Barrister, Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court