Professional Biography
Image of Charles Curtis

Charles G. Curtis Jr. Partner

  • Madison

    D +1.608.663.5411

    F +1.608.663.7499

    Madison

    33 East Main Street, Suite 201

    Madison, WI 53703-3095

    +1.608.663.5411

    CCurtis@perkinscoie.com

  • Washington, D.C.

    T +1.202.654.6200

    F +1.202.654.6211

    Washington, D.C.

    700 13th Street, NW, Suite 800

    Washington, DC 20005-3960

    +1.202.654.6200

    CCurtis@perkinscoie.com

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Overview

Chuck Curtis has over 35 years of experience in counseling and litigating in diverse areas, including constitutional, appellate, administrative, antitrust, intellectual property, environmental and natural resource, Native American, political, and general commercial law. Long ranked as a Wisconsin Band-One commercial litigator by Chambers USA, Chuck has received such recent client accolades as, “… ‘he is an excellent counselor’ and ‘powerful advocate’”; “he has extraordinarily strong writing skills” and an “encyclopedic knowledge of the law”; he is “brilliant, insightful,” and “extremely good at working collaboratively”; and “there are not enough superlatives for” him.

Chuck has advocated for clients before administrative agencies and in federal and state courts at both the trial and appellate levels, including the U.S. Supreme Court. His commercial litigation clients have included global leaders in technology, manufacturing, mining, sports, finance, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods. Chuck served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. and to Senior Judge David L. Bazelon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Chuck also has notable political law experience. Over the past decade, he has helped to lead repeated federal challenges to Wisconsin’s harsh voter identification laws, including multiple injunction hearings and appeals. Although much of the district courts’ injunctive relief in these cases has been overturned on appeal, the ongoing litigation has produced extensive regulatory, judicial, and legislative changes to Wisconsin’s voter ID regime. More recently, Chuck served on the trial and appellate teams defending President Biden and the Democratic Party in the 2020 Wisconsin presidential recount and numerous related lawsuits by President Trump and his allies seeking to overturn the election results. Chuck also helped represent the Democratic Party in challenging the application of Wisconsin’s absentee-voting laws during the 2020 pandemic.

Native American legal issues are another large part of Chuck’s practice. He has represented private and public clients in litigation, agency proceedings, and business negotiations involving Native American tribes, tribal entities, and tribal members throughout the country. His work in this field has spanned constitutional, treaty rights, environmental, energy, tax, intellectual property, distribution, attorney liability, finance, commercial, and gaming law.

Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Chuck was a founder and co-chair of two firms’ national appellate practice groups.

Chambers 2023-bl2024 Lawyer of the Year

Ranked by Chambers & Best Lawyers

Named “Appellate Practice  Lawyer of the Year” by  The Best Lawyers in America, 2024
Ranked by Chambers USA 20 Years in a Row

Professional Recognition

  • Named “Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America, 2022, 2024
  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America: Appellate Pratice; Commercial Litigation; Litigation - Antitrust; Litigation - Environmental; Litigation - First Amendment; Litigation - Intellectual Property; Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy), 2001 – 2024
  • Recognized by Chambers USA: "America's Leading Lawyers" for Native Amerinsel (Nationwide), 2009 – 2023; Litigation: General Commercial (Wisconsin), 2004 – 2023
  • Recipient of the Richard E. Guggenhime Pro Bono Award, 2004

Professional Leadership

  • American Bar Association, Member
  • State Bar of Wisconsin, Member
  • District of Columbia Bar, Member
  • Dane County Bar Association, Member
  • Seventh Circuit Bar Association, Member
  • Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission, Member, 2001 – 2003, 2007 – 2009
  • American Law Institute, Member

Related Employment

  • Arnold & Porter LLP, Madison WI and Washington D.C., Partner, 2008 – 2015
  • Heller Ehrman LLP, Madison WI, Shareholder, 2001 – 2008
  • Foley & Lardner LLP, Madison and Milwaukee WI, Partner, 1990 – 2001; Associate, 1983 – 1984, 1985 – 1990

Clerkships

  • Hon. William J. Brennan, Jr., U.S. Supreme Court, 1984 - 1985
  • Hon. David L. Bazelon, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1982 - 1983

Experience

News

Insights

RELATED INFORMATION

Bar and Court Admissions

  • Wisconsin
  • District of Columbia
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

Education

  • The University of Chicago Law School, J.D., Editor-in-Chief, The University of Chicago Law Review (Vol. 49, 1981 - 1982); Joseph Henry Beale Prize, 1980
  • Harvard University, B.A., History, magna cum laude, 1978