Education

  • University of Wisconsin, B.A. (1992)
  • University of Dayton School of Law, J.D. (2001) summa cum laude

Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Ohio
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
  • U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Court, District of Maryland
  • U.S. District Court, District of Northern District, Ohio
  • U.S. District Court, District of Southern District, Ohio

Daniel W. Wolff

Partner
dwolff@crowell.com
+1.202.624.2621

Dan Wolff is a litigator and regulatory problem solver. He is a partner in Crowell & Moring's Washington, D.C. office and chairs the firm's Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice. Dan counsels clients and litigates on their behalf in federal district and appellate courts around the country in matters arising under the Administrative Procedure Act, other federal statutes, and the U.S. Constitution. He also litigates commercial cases in both federal and state venues.

The National Law Journal named Dan as one of its 2020 Political Activism and First Amendment Rights Trailblazers.

In addition to being a skilled litigator, Dan advises clients in responding to government investigations of workplace accidents, fatalities, supervisor liability, whistleblower complaints, and requests for company records. He also speaks and writes frequently on administrative law litigation, and all aspects of workplace safety and health compliance and enforcement defense.

Dan serves on the firm's Public Service Committee and maintains an active pro bono practice in a wide variety of areas, including civil and constitutional rights, due process litigation on behalf of special needs students under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, asylum, habeas corpus, landlord-tenant, rights of the disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act, fair wages, and common law torts. On such matters he has appeared in the federal courts, the U.S. Immigration Court, and the courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Dan is an active member of, and participant in CLE events presented by, the American Bar Association and the D.C. Bar Association.

While in law school, Dan served as an editor on the University of Dayton Law Review and was active with the Environmental Law Society. Immediately following law school, he clerked for two years in the Southern District of Ohio for the Honorable Walter H. Rice.

Dan is licensed to practice in the District of Columbia and Ohio and is also a member of the bars of multiple federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.


Representative Matters

Administrative Procedure Act / Constitution
  • Dan is a veteran federal district court litigator against the United States. He has brought numerous actions on behalf of clients against Cabinet-level departments or their sub-agencies seeking injunctive and declaratory relief under the Administrative Procedure Act or U.S. Constitution challenging agency rulemakings or other agency actions.
  • As part of his litigation practice, Dan also represents clients from time to time as intervenors or amici in third-party litigation filed by or against federal agencies.
  • Dan also advises clients on rights and litigation strategies arising under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
  • Among his recent matters as lead or co-counsel, Dan has secured litigation victories on summary judgment for clients in multiple U.S. District Courts:
    • in the Southern District of Texas (on behalf of an energy company, arising under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause)
    • in the District of Maryland (on behalf of an individual, obtaining a damages award arising out of a municipality’s violation of the client’s First Amendment rights); and
    • in two cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (on behalf of trade associations, arising under the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal statutes).
Appellate
  • Dan regularly appears in the federal courts of appeals, as well, frequently in petitions for review of federal agency rulemakings or in opposing (or supporting as intervenor or amicus) some other type of agency action on appeal. He has argued appellate matters before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the D.C., Fourth, Seventh, Tenth, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits. He has also argued appellate matters in the state/local courts of the District of Columbia and Maryland.
  • Dan’s recent appearances on behalf of amici curiae include California v. Texas (No. 19-840), the Supreme Court's most recent ACA decision, decided in June 2021, and Whitaker v. Dep't of Commerce (2d Cir., No. 18-2819), a FOIA case decided in August 2020 in which the Second Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision consistent with the position advanced by Crowell in its amicus brief.
Recovery Litigation
  • Dan is actively involved in Crowell & Moring's recovery litigation practice, as part of Crowell’s team seeking significant damages on behalf of health plans stemming from inflated billing for prescription drugs.
  • He was also a central member of the Crowell & Moring team that secured multiple victories for health plans in high-dollar damages cases against the United States arising under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including a 2020 victory in the U.S. Supreme Court that resulted in judgments of over $13 billion for health plans.
Commercial / Torts
  • Dan also litigates commercial and mass torts cases, having represented clients in matters ranging from environmental torts, negligence, and public nuisance, to breach of contract, fraud, and civil RICO.
  • Dan is part of the law firm’s team defending a medical device manufacturer in mass product liability litigation spread over hundreds of cases across the country.
Enforcement Defense
  • Dan defends industry clients in court or before administrative tribunals against citations and penalties, most frequently in actions commenced by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and its DOL sister agency Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
Natural Resources
  • In addition to his litigation practice, Dan has subject-matter experience in a wide variety of natural resources and public lands disputes, and this aspect of his practice frequently converges with his litigation practice in matters arising under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). On behalf of mining and other natural resources clients, Dan has appeared and argued in the federal district courts and courts of appeals on NEPA-related matters. He also counsels clients on issues arising under federal mineral leasing programs, the Antiquities Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act, among other things.
  • As part of his natural resources litigation practice, Dan has also regularly appeared before the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) in public lands disputes, both for petitioning parties as well as intervenors.


Insights

Speeches & Presentations


Publications


Client Alerts & Newsletters


Press Coverage


Firm News & Announcements

September 16, 2021 Crowell & Moring and ACLU of Maryland Achieve Victory in Removal of the Last Confederate Statue on Public Grounds in Maryland
May 5, 2021 Public Defenders, NAACP File Federal Court Challenge Demanding Immediate Removal of Racist Confederate Statue from Eastern Shore Courthouse
November 4, 2020 National Law Journal Names Crowell & Moring Partner Daniel Wolff a Political Activism and First Amendment Rights Trailblazer
July 16, 2020 Crowell & Moring Represents University of California in Suit against Department of Homeland Security over International Student Directive
May 6, 2020 The National Law Journal Names Crowell & Moring to 2020 Pro Bono Hot List
April 28, 2020 Maine Community Health Options Wins U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Enforcing Government Payment Obligation Under Affordable Care Act ‘Risk Corridor’ Cases
November 25, 2019 Harlem Park Residents Sue Baltimore Police, Former Commissioner, Over Drastic, Multi-Day Lockdown
July 12, 2019 Crowell & Moring and ACLU Achieve Victory in Free Speech Case Challenging Gag Orders Imposed on Survivors of Police Abuse in Baltimore
September 7, 2018 LITIGATION NOTE: Crowell & Moring Succeeds in First Affordable Care Act Cost Sharing Reduction Case
October 31, 2017 Super Lawyers Recognizes 79 Crowell & Moring Lawyers Across United States
November 30, 2016 Super Lawyers Recognizes 71 Crowell & Moring Lawyers Across United States
October 27, 2015 Super Lawyers Recognizes 90 Crowell & Moring Attorneys
September 30, 2014 Super Lawyers 2014 Recognizes 90 Crowell & Moring Attorneys
September 1, 2013 Super Lawyers 2013 Recognizes 64 Crowell & Moring Attorneys
January 17, 2013 Crowell & Moring Elects Seven New Partners and Promotes Twelve Attorneys to Senior Counsel and Counsel Positions
April 1, 2004 Crowell & Moring Prevails Before U.S. Supreme Court in Long Running Western Mineral Rights Controversy