
Kirk Christopher Jenkins
Horvitz & Levy LLPI help clients by protecting the positive results they achieve in court or – when a trial has gone against the client – vindicating the client’s rights and getting them a second chance. High stakes litigation is like chess played in three dimensions. While the trial team works to win the case at trial, I focus on what will happen afterwards. Beginning even before the jury is chosen, I work to ensure that the clients’ themes and points are presented in the best way to persuade an appellate court, and that the client’s objections to any adverse decisions have been preserved, sometimes briefing and arguing key motions before the trial court myself. But just as importantly, I manage the client’s appellate strategy. I help the trial team craft the client’s arguments with an eye towards not just what the law is, but what the law may soon become because of not-yet-decided cases pending in the appellate courts. I’ve briefed and argued many post-trial motions in the trial courts, reducing adverse judgments and improving the record for appeal before the appeal ever begins. I have appeared before higher courts as amicus in cases presenting related issues, and helped move the law in a more beneficial direction before the client’s case was decided. In twenty years as a full-time appellate lawyer, I have litigated a broad range of issues, including Federal preemption; electrocution injuries; failure to warn and design defect; the admissibility of economic testimony; groundwater contamination; primary and exclusive administrative jurisdiction; alleged asbestos exposure; the extraterritorial application of Federal and state law, and the certification and decertification of consumer class actions. For further details of many significant matters, click my website biography above.
- Antitrust Law
- Appeals & Appellate
- Civil Appeals, Federal Appeals
- California
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- District of Columbia (inactive)
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- Illinois
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- 2nd Circuit
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- 5th Circuit
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- 6th Circuit
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- 7th Circuit
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- 8th Circuit
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- 9th Circuit
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- 10th Circuit
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- D.C. Circuit
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- Federal Circuit
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- U.S. District Court (C.D. Cal.)
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- U.S. District Court (D. Ariz.)
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- U.S. District Court (E.D. Ky.)
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- U.S. District Court (N.D. Cal.)
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- U.S. District Court (W.D. Ky.)
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- U.S. Supreme Court
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- Sedgwick LLP
- - Current
- Associate
- Brown, Todd & Heyburn
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- Associate
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
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- Harvard Law School
- J.D
- cum laude
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- Harvard University
- A.B. (1983) | Economics
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- Honors: Magna cum Laude
- Activities: Harvard Political Review (Associate Editor)
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- Best Lawyers (Appellate Law)
- Best Lawyers in America
- Best Lawyers (Appellate Law)
- Best Lawyers in America
- Best Lawyers (Appellate Law)
- Best Lawyers in America
- Best Lawyers (Appellate Law)
- Best Lawyers in America
- Best Lawyers (Appellate Law)
- Best Lawyers in America
- American Academy of Appellate Lawyers
- Fellow
- - Current
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- Society for Empirical Legal Studies
- Member
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- American Law Institute
- Member
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- Council of Appellate Lawyers
- Member
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- California Academy of Appellate Lawyers
- Secretary-Treasurer
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- Iskanian Decision Not Such a Clear Win for Business
- The Recorder
- The California Supreme Court's Iskanian Decision: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
- Washington Legal Foundation The Legal Pulse
- Guaranty Fund's Indemnity Payments Not Limited By Statutory Cap
- WorkCompCentral.com
- Certified Specialist in Appellate Law
- State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization (The Supreme Court of Illinois does not recognize specialities in the practice of law. Such a certificate, award or recognition is not a requirement to practice law in Illinois.)
- Website
- Horvitz & Levy LLP
- Blog
- The Appellate Strategist
- Prologue Part 3: The Antitrust Law of Foreign-Based Transactions Before Passage of the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvement Act
June 16, 2019 - The Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance: Chapter 1, Sections 1-3
May 17, 2019 - Join Me Tomorrow for “What to Expect from the Brown Court” at the Bar Association of San Francisco
May 7, 2019
- Blog
- Illinois Supreme Court Review
- Did Shorter Majorities Increase the Unanimity Rate in Criminal Cases (Part 1 – 1990-1999)?
January 21, 2023 - Did Shorter Majorities Increase the Unanimity Rate in Civil Cases (Part 1 – 1990-1999)?
January 21, 2023 - Was the Supreme Court’s Criminal Caseload Declining in the 1990s?
January 11, 2023
- Blog
- California Supreme Court Review
- Join Me and a Panel of Experts Tomorrow for “Traps for Appellate Out-of-Towners: Differences Among Neighboring State Appellate Practices (West Coast Edition)”
March 29, 2023 - Was There a Correlation Between the Average Length of Majority Opinions in Criminal Cases and the Unanimity Rate (Part 1 – 1990-1999)?
January 21, 2023 - Did Longer Majority Opinions in Civil Cases Affect the Unanimity Rate (Part 1 – 1990-1999)?
January 21, 2023