HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Deepak Gupta (born September 14, 1977) is an American attorney known for representing consumers, workers, and a broad range of clients in U.S. Supreme Court and appellate cases and constitutional,
class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...
, and complex
litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...
. Gupta is the founding principal of the law firm Gupta Wessler LLP and a lecturer at Harvard Law School, where he is an instructor in the Harvard Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.


Early life and education

Gupta earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
and a
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from the
Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...
. He also studied Sanskrit at the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
in England. He served as a law clerk for Judge Lawrence K. Karlton.


Career

He teaches as a lecturer on law at
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
, where he is an instructor in the Harvard Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and was previously a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow, and is a former adjunct professor of Law at Georgetown Law and American University's Washington College of Law. In 2011, Gupta became the first appellate litigator hired under Elizabeth Warren’s leadership at the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, Payday lo ...
. After leaving the CFPB in 2012, he established the firm now known as Gupta Wessler LLP. He previously worked for seven years at
Public Citizen Litigation Group Public Citizen Litigation Group is a public interest law firm in the United States. The group is the litigation arm of the non-profit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. Its attorneys work on cases involving health and safety regulation, ...
, where he was staff attorney and the founding director of the Consumer Justice Project and the Alan Morrison Supreme Court Assistance Project Fellow. He is an appointed member of the Administrative Conference of the United States and an elected member of the
American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars limited to 3,000 elected members and established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and i ...
and serves on the boards of several organizations and academic research institutes, including the Open Markets Institute, the
National Consumer Law Center The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) is an American nonprofit organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region o ...
, and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Gupta has worked in the U.S Department of Justice Voting Rights Section and at the ACLU's National Prison Project and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Gupta was considered for a vacancy on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit during the presidency of Joe Biden. Law360 called him "one of the emerging giants of the appellate and the Supreme Court bar," a "heavy hitter," and a “principled” and "incredibly talented lawyer."


Notable cases

In 2019, Gupta became the first Asian-American invited by the U.S. Supreme Court to argue as a court-appointed amicus (in support of a judgment left undefended by the U.S. Solicitor General). In November 2018, he was invited to brief and argue as
amicus curiae An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...
in support of a judgment abandoned by the Solicitor General. In January 2025, Deepak argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in '' Stanley v. City of Sanford'', in which he represented retired firefigher Karyn Stanley, in support of former employees’ right to sue for disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In December 2024, Deepak argued and prevailed before the U.S. Supreme Court in '' NVIDIA Corp. v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB'', a case about heightened pleading standards for securities fraud class actions, in which he persuaded the Court to dismiss the writ as improvidently granted. In 2021, Gupta argued and won a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in '' Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial Dist.'', on the jurisdictional limits under the Due Process Clause for consumer product liability lawsuits. In 2022, Gupta secured a $125-million nationwide class action settlement in a lawsuit that he led against the federal judiciary, challenging fees for access to the PACER electronic records system. In '' Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman'', Gupta successfully represented retail merchants before the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
in a First Amendment challenge to state laws, enacted at the behest of the credit-card industry, that hid the cost of credit cards from consumers. Gupta argued the case of '' AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion'' for the respondent before the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
. This landmark case concerned the validity of forced arbitration clauses used by companies to suppress group claims of discrimination, harassment, wage theft, deceptive practices, and predatory lending.


Selected publications

*'' Deepak Gupta, The Consumer Bureau and the Constitution, 65 Admin L. Rev. 945'' (2013) *'' Deepak Gupta, Leveling the Playing Field on Appeal: The Case for a Plaintiff-Side Appellate Bar, 54 Duq. L. Rev. 383'' (2016) *'' Deepak Gupta & Lina Khan, Arbitration as Wealth Transfer, 5 Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. 499'' (2017)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Deepak Living people American lawyers Georgetown University Law Center alumni Fordham University alumni United States Department of Justice lawyers American Civil Liberties Union people 1977 births American politicians of Indian descent