Shane A. Pennington

Shane counsels clients on federal regulatory issues involving a number of industries, including energy, pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, aviation, and agriculture. A former law clerk to federal judges on the D.C. Circuit, the Fifth Circuit, and the D.C. District Court, Shane brings unique insight and strategic thinking to assist clients facing complex regulatory issues.

Rated “One to Watch” and a “Rising Star” in appellate law by The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers, respectively, Shane has argued cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Fifth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits, securing landmark results for clients. In a series of cases on behalf of veterans and scientists, for example, Shane raised a novel claim under the Freedom of Information Act to uncover a secret 2018 Opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel that revealed the unlawfulness of a longstanding agency policy that had obstructed cannabis research for over half a century. Shane regularly litigates cases concerning federal and state agencies that involve the Administrative Procedure Act; the Controlled Substances Act; and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Clients turn to Shane to advance their strategic goals within existing regulatory and legal frameworks, but also to develop creative strategies to reimagine those frameworks amidst rapidly changing industries. To that end, Shane often advocates for clients at the administrative level, working with state and federal regulators to devise novel solutions to seemingly intractable problems. He has represented companies, scientists, and industry coalitions before the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Justice, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shane has completed clerkships with three federal judges, including the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth, then-Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia; the Honorable Jennifer Walker Elrod of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; and the Honorable David B. Sentelle, then-Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. While in law school, he served as both the Articles Editor for the Texas Law Review and as Managing Editor with Texas Review of Law and Politics.

Shane has published extensively on topics related to administrative law and drug policy, including the private nondelegation doctrine, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, judicial deference to administrative agencies, and bureaucratic management and the limits of presidential power. Shane often provides commentary on administrative law issues to the Yale Journal on Regulation Notice & Comment blog and is a regular contributor to the “News From the Circuits” column published in the American Bar Association’s Administrative and Regulatory Law News.

Outside the Firm

Shane enjoys golf, kayak fishing, and camping with his wife, Erin, their two children, Saoirse and Cormac, and their Irish Terrier, Pippi.

• Co-lead counsel in Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) suit to force release of a secret 2018 opinion of the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”), “Licensing Marijuana Cultivation in Compliance with the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.” Within weeks of filing a complaint—and without filing a FOIA request—secured settlement requiring DOJ to disclose OLC opinion barring the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) from processing medical research applications under the Controlled Substances Act until DEA brought its regulations in line with federal law and United States treaty obligations.
• Co-lead counsel in mandamus action seeking order requiring DEA to process clinical research applications after years of delay. In response to order from D.C. Circuit calling for its response to the petition for writ of mandamus, DEA capitulated, processed 33 overdue applications, and announced at long last its intent to move forward with a comprehensive program. In May 2021, DEA announced that it had preliminarily approved the client’s application to grow marijuana for research purposes. DEA and the client have since negotiated a Memorandum of Agreement to govern the client’s federal grow license going forward.
• Defended appeal of district court order dismissing claims against a Northern Irish company on forum non conveniens grounds. Fifth Circuit canceled oral argument and issued its published opinion affirming ruling in client’s favor.
• Briefing and oral argument on behalf of party appearing as amicus curiae; in opinion favorable to client, state appellate court expressly rejected federal appellate court’s ruling in client’s case presenting the same important and novel issue of California law.
• Successfully represented an airline before Texas Supreme Court; secured ruling that federal Airline Deregulation Act did not preempt airline’s state-law claims against third-party vendor.
• Merits briefing on behalf of petitioner resulting in a unanimous Supreme Court opinion in client’s favor holding that securities-fraud defendants must be afforded an opportunity to rebut the presumption of reliance before class certification with evidence of a lack of price impact.
• Certiorari- and merits-stage briefing in case questioning whether Bankruptcy Code permits bankruptcy courts to award attorney fees to counsel or other professionals employed by the bankruptcy estate for work in defense of fee application in court.

• Article

  Noteworthy Publications

  Various Publications Through to 2025

  Shane A. Pennington

• Speaking Engagement

  Noteworthy Speaking Engagements

  Through to 2025

  Shane A. Pennington

See all News and Views

• 2021–2022, Ones to Watch in America®, listed in Best Lawyers
• 2020–2022, New York “Rising Star,” listed in Super Lawyers

Memberships

• American Bar Association
• International Cannabis Bar Association

• American Bar Association, Cannabis Law and Policy General Committee, Vice-Chair; Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section
• International Cannabis Bar Association, Amicus Committee, Co-Chair

Admissions

• Supreme Court of the United States
• Texas
• U.S. District Court - District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Wisconsin
• U.S. District Court - Southern District of Texas
• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Education

• University of Houston, BA
• University of Texas School of Law, JD