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David Boies, Esq., founder and managing partner of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, is widely regarded as one of the nation’s premier litigators. He argued in the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of the U.S. Government in its antitrust action against Microsoft Corp. and won. He is also remembered for his unsuccessful argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in the epic battle for control of the nation in Bush v. Gore.
In 2009, Mr. Boies announced his joining forces with former Solicitor General of the U.S. and his former adversary in Bush v. Gore, Ted Olsen, in a challenge to California’s constitutional amendment that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, called “Proposition 8.” Although Proposition 8 had been approved by a majority of California voters, Mr. Boies and Mr. Olsen accepted the financial backing of one of Hollywood’s most prominent producers, Rob Reiner, to argue on behalf of two homosexual couples that the definition of marriage to include only one man and one woman amounted to illegal discrimination in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Mr. Boies appeared at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law on March 29, 2011, to share his “Reflections on Perry v. Schwarzenegger,” the case he and Mr. Olsen brought in the Federal District Court in San Francisco which they won, striking down Proposition 8.
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In the interim since their victory at the trial level, many things have happened. Judge Vaughn Walker, who ruled that Proposition 8’s limitation of marriage to a union of a man and a woman was irrational and unconstitutional, was himself publicly identified as a practicing homosexual. Judge Walker subsequently announced his retirement from the bench. The Court of Appeals, which had been petitioned by the proponents of Proposition 8 to overturn Judge Vaughn’s decision, sent the case back to the Supreme Court of the State of California on a technical question over an issue of “standing.” And just the week prior to Mr. Boies’s speech at Cardozo, the Court of Appeals turned down Mr. Boies’s request to lift a stay of Judge Vaughn’s ruling, denying the hopes of allowing gay couples to marry in the interim while the Court of Appeals considered the matter.
Mr. Boies’ appearance served as a welcome update to people on both sides of the debate. In his usual low-key and incisive style, Mr. Boies offered the rationale and methodology behind the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial. But from beneath his cool demeanor Mr. Boies also let slip a few surprises that shed light on the true motivations behind the lawsuit and his own team’s estimation of their chances for ultimate success.
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