Ethan Davis

is an associate in the National Appellate Practice on King & Spalding’s Business Litigation team.

Before joining the firm in 2013, Mr. Davis spent four years as a litigator in the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In that position, he personally argued dispositive motions and motions for preliminary injunctions in various federal courts. In particular, he argued a series of cases in the Central District of California (Managed Pharmacy Care et al. v. Sebelius et al.) involving hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state Medicaid payments to providers.

Mr. Davis has significant experience in the health care sector. He served as a member of the Justice Department team that defended the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. In addition, he represented the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a variety of cases involving various states’ efforts to reduce Medicaid payments to providers for outpatient and inpatient services. Mr. Davis also litigated several cases involving reductions in Medicaid payments for prescription drugs.

Aside from health care, Mr. Davis also litigated cases on behalf of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Labor Relations Board that implicated the President’s recess appointment power. He participated in a case raising broad constitutional challenges to the Dodd-Frank Act. And he represented the State Department in cases involving lawsuits against foreign governments and foreign officials.

Before joining the Justice Department, Mr. Davis clerked for Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He received a B.A. summa cum laude from Amherst College and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2008. At Yale, Mr. Davis served as a Projects Editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Mr. Davis also serves as an adjunct professor at the Washington College of Law at American University.

Awards & Recognition

Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service (2013)

Special Commendation Award for Outstanding Service in the Civil Division (2012)

Special Commendation Award for Outstanding Service in the Civil Division (2010)