Stephen B. Kinnaird is a partner in the Litigation practice of Paul Hastings and co-chair of the Appellate practice. He is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. He has represented clients in numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court, the federal courts of appeals and district courts, and state appellate courts.

A highly experienced appellate lawyer, Mr. Kinnaird has handled matters involving energy, transportation, intellectual property, antitrust, environmental, telecommunications, administrative, criminal, and constitutional law.

Specifically, Mr. Kinnaird has handled cases involving the Communications Act, the Interstate Commerce Act, the Federal Power Act, the Federal Railroad Safety Act, the Federal Employer’s Liability Act, the Social Security Act, the Sherman and Robinson-Patman Acts, the Lanham Act, the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, CERCLA, the Patent and Trademark Acts, ERISA, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, and the Civil Rights Act; the Commerce, Due Process, and Takings Clauses; and the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, and Eleventh Amendments.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Kinnaird served as a law clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court, and to Judge John M. Walker, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Mr. Kinnaird argued Padilla v. Kentucky in the United States Supreme Court in 2009. The Court ruled in favor of firm client Jose Padilla in holding that the Sixth Amendment imposed duties upon defense counsel to advise criminal defendants of the deportation consequences of criminal convictions. Mr. Kinnaird was featured on the cover of the July/August 2010 issue of The American Lawyer in a story highlighting the historic decision.

• The Legal 500 USA, Appellate: States and Federal Courts Of Appeals/Supreme Courts (2021-2022)
• Awarded the Jack Wasserman Memorial Award in 2011 for excellence in litigation in the field of immigration law by The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) for the representation of Jose Padilla in Padilla v. Kentucky
• Recognized in 2011 by Lawyers USA as one of nine Lawyers of the Year in 2010 for his representation of Jose Padilla in the Padilla v. Kentucky Supreme Court win
• Honored by The National Association of Attorneys General for his assistance in helping state attorneys general prepare for Supreme Court cases in 2010
• Honored with the 2010 Public Advocate’s Award by the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy for his pro bono service in the Padilla case

• Yale Law School, J.D., 1994 (Yale Law Journal, Articles Editor; awarded three faculty prizes for scholarship)
• The University of Oxford, M.A., 1992 (Rhodes Scholar)
• Yale University, B.A., 1984 (summa cum laude)