Howard R. Rubin

Howard Rubin is national head of Katten's Appellate Litigation Practice. In addition to representing clients in federal and state courts of appeals across the country, Mr. Rubin devotes a substantial portion of his practice to counseling and litigating on behalf of clients in the health care industry.

Mr. Rubin has served as lead appellate counsel in more than 60 cases in 10 federal circuits, including numerous cases at the en banc stage of appellate proceedings. In their most significant cases, clients often retain Mr. Rubin at the appellate stage to defend victories obtained in the trial court or to challenge adverse rulings. Mr. Rubin has personally argued and won cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits as well as before the Supreme Court of Washington. He is one of the few appellate litigators in private practice to have argued three appeals back-to-back-to-back in a single session in a federal appellate court, having done so when he won three cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Rubin also routinely briefs cases in the U.S. Supreme Court at both the certiorari and merits stages.

Mr. Rubin’s appellate practice covers a wide range of subjects, including administrative law, bankruptcy, constitutional litigation, employment law, environmental law, health care, intellectual property (patent, copyright and trademark), telecommunications and tax. Mr. Rubin is currently serving as lead appellate counsel for the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, defending the district court’s ruling in favor of the RFA that California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program violates the dormant Commerce Clause by discriminating against out-of-state corn-derived ethanol while favoring in-state corn ethanol and impermissibly regulating extraterritorial conduct. Earlier this year, Mr. Rubin obtained a victory in the U.S. Supreme Court in a highly publicized tax case that addressed the issue of whether an understatement of income resulting from an overstatement of tax basis for sold property qualifies as an omission from income giving rise to an extended six-year (as opposed to three-year) period for tax assessment.

In addition to his national appellate practice, Mr. Rubin has counseled and litigated on behalf of health care clients for the last 16 years. In the health care industry, Mr. Rubin’s experience has included representing coalitions of medical specialty practices, state and national medical associations, a global pharmaceutical services organization, an oncology services company and welfare benefit plans. He is recognized by medical associations and physician group practices across the country as one of the foremost authorities on state patient referral laws. Mr. Rubin has devoted a substantial part of his practice over the past eight years to serving as counsel to coalitions of medical practices that seek to defend an integrated model of health care in which patients can choose to receive medically necessary diagnostic imaging services, pathology services, physical therapy services and radiation therapy services from their own doctors’ group practices.

Mr. Rubin received his bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Miami and his law degree, with high honors, from Duke University School of Law, where he was an editor on the Duke Law Journal. He previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Sam J. Ervin, III, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Mr. Rubin is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland, the U.S. Supreme Court, and 11 of the 13 federal circuit courts of appeals.