Avi M. Kupfer

An experienced appellate lawyer, Avi Kupfer focuses his practice on briefing appeals and dispositive motions in federal and state court, and on developing legal strategy for proceedings before courts and administrative agencies. Avi has been named a “Rising Star” in appellate litigation (Legal 500) and selected for Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under” list.

Avi concentrates on litigation involving the federal government in Administrative Procedure Act and other regulatory cases, including successful suits on behalf of major companies and industry associations. He has substantial experience in environmental, energy, and land-use litigation – especially under Superfund, the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

While leading EPA Region 10’s Land Law Branch, Avi was responsible for overseeing legal advice on enforcement and litigation under Superfund and other cleanup statutes. Avi also served as an appellate attorney in the Environment & Natural Resources Division of the US Department of Justice, where he was lead counsel on dozens of matters, briefing and arguing civil and criminal cases in federal appellate courts on administrative procedure, pollution control, natural resources, and Indian law. In that role, Avi worked closely with the Office of the Solicitor General to draft briefs in the US Supreme Court on a broad range of issues. He twice received the Assistant Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in recognition of his advocacy.

Earlier in his career, Avi clerked for Judge Danny J. Boggs of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He received his law degree magna cum laude from the University of Michigan, where he served as Articles Editor of the Michigan Law Review.

• Important wins defending the US Postal Service’s modernization of the national mail delivery fleet, including the purchase and deployment of 66,000 electric vehicles.
• Successful challenges to multiple administrative agency decisions, including persuading the DC Circuit to vacate an EPA rule that applied new emissions limits to existing industrial boilers and a Consumer Product Safety Commission rule regulating the billion-dollar window coverings industry.
• Advised General Motors on natural resource and environmental litigation related to the development of the Thacker Pass lithium mine, the largest-ever investment by an automaker to produce battery raw materials.
• Represented Southwest Airlines in negotiating a favorable settlement with the Department of Transportation after a year-long investigation of an operational disruption due to a massive winter storm.
• Multiple victories in high-stakes appeals defending the removal of cases from state to federal court, achieving favorable outcomes mitigating client risk and reducing litigation exposure.

• Named to Benchmark Litigation‘s “40 & Under” list, 2024
• Selected by Legal 500 as a “Rising Star” in appellate litigation

• University of Michigan Law School, JD, magna cum laude
  Articles Editor, Michigan Law Review
• Yale University, BA, cum laude

• California
• Illinois
• Wisconsin