Overview
Grace Wallack represents clients in Supreme Court & Appellate Litigation and Government & Regulatory Litigation matters, focusing on appellate and administrative law. She represents clients in high-stakes appeals and critical motions, with particular experience in Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenges, complex statutory and constitutional issues, and regulatory disputes.
Grace has secured significant victories in federal courts across the country. She has obtained vacatur of federal agency rules and policies, prevailed in appellate matters involving jurisdictional issues, and helped obtain injunctive relief in complex regulatory proceedings. She also advises clients navigating agency processes, including successfully resolving administrative appeals and using strategic litigation to prompt rulemaking. Her work spans a range of heavily regulated industries, including healthcare, life sciences, transportation, and telecommunications.
Grace maintains an active pro bono practice with a particular emphasis on representing individuals and organizations in civil rights litigation. She serves on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.
Before joining the firm, Grace clerked for Judge Susan L. Carney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. During law school, Grace was the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Journal on Legislation.
Results
- Obtained vacatur of part of a Federal Maritime Commission rule as arbitrary and capricious in the DC Circuit
- Secured a precedential victory for a major healthcare company regarding the application of non-mutual collateral estoppel to arbitration agreements
- Argued and won an appeal defending the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment to a civil rights plaintiff, convincing the panel to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction
- On behalf of a leading health services organization, obtained vacatur of US Department of Health and Human Services sub-agency policy as arbitrary and capricious under the APA
- Helped obtain a full victory in the Maryland Court of Appeals for a public utility client on a tax issue, securing a reversal on a problematic statute of limitations holding and full affirmance on the merits
- Obtained favorable resolution of an internal agency appeal, convincing the FDA to lift a partial clinical hold on a clinical trial for a client’s promising new drug
- Successfully opposed petition for certiorari on behalf of the Governor of Guam
- Obtained favorable resolution of a challenge to agency action, prompting the agency to engage in desired notice-and-comment rulemaking
- Part of a team that secured a preliminary injunction preventing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from terminating the provider agreement for a skilled nursing facility during Chapter 7 proceedings
- Part of a team that secured approval from FDA for a new breakthrough therapy for motion sickness through tireless and multi-pronged litigation and regulatory strategy
Recognitions
- District of Columbia Courts, Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2024-2025
Credentials
Education
Harvard Law School, JD, cum laude, 2019
Georgetown University, BA, magna cum laude, 2013
Admissions
District of Columbia
New York
Courts/Agencies
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
US District Court for the District of Columbia
