Kannon Shanmugam

Kannon Shanmugam is a partner at Davis Polk in Washington, D.C., and heads the firm’s Supreme Court & Appellate practice. He represents corporate and individual clients in major appeals involving constitutional law, securities, administrative law, business disputes, and other complex issues. Shanmugam has argued 40 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and more than 150 appeals nationwide, including matters in every federal court of appeals.

Shanmugam earned an A.B. summa cum laude from Harvard University, an M.Litt. from the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. He clerked for Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court. This background supports his work on complex appellate strategy, briefing, and oral argument.

Before joining Davis Polk in 2026, Shanmugam was a partner at Paul, Weiss and previously at Williams & Connolly. Earlier, he served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2004 to 2008. His representative appellate work includes matters for Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Meta, Seila Law, the National Football League, and Cisco Systems, including a 2026 Supreme Court victory for Cisco involving the Alien Tort Statute.

Kannon Shanmugam is recognized for appellate work by Chambers USA, Legal 500 U.S., Benchmark Litigation, Law360, and other legal publications. Chambers ranks him as a Star Individual in appellate law, while Legal 500 lists him in its appellate Hall of Fame. His practice combines extensive Supreme Court experience, federal appellate advocacy, and prior government service, helping clients address high-stakes legal questions and develop litigation strategy from trial through final appeal.

Law Office Affiliations

• Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
• Member, District of Columbia Bar Association
• Member, New York State Bar Association
• Member, Virginia State Bar
• Member, Kansas Bar Association

Licensed State

• District of Columbia
• Kansas
• New York
• Virginia

Education

• Harvard Law School
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• University of Oxford
  Magister Litterarum or Master of Letters (M.Litt.)
• Harvard University
  AB with Summa Cum Laude

Awards & Badges