Lisa Himes Authors Amicus Brief with Atlantic Legal Foundation in Fluor Supreme Court Case

In early June, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Hencely v. Fluor Corp., which will decide whether federal law precludes a state-law personal injury suit arising out of a 2016 suicide bombing at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. Together with Atlantic Legal Foundation (ALF) Executive Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence Ebner, Rogers Joseph O’Donnell P.C. Of Counsel Lisa N. Himes has authored an amicus brief supporting the position that federal law preempts state-law tort claims because they interfere with uniquely federal interests.   

The amicus brief, filed on Monday, September 22, provides the Supreme Court with important legal precedent for why state-law tort claims against U.S. military battlefield contractors conflict with the Federal Tort Claims Act’s combatant activities exception, 28 U.S.C. § 2680(j), and other federal statutes such as the Veterans Benefits Act. The brief also notes that these contractors are essential to the conduct of U.S. military combat operations and that such litigation interferes with the U.S. military’s ability to enlist the support of contractors in overseas war zones. 

“The U.S. military relies on these battlefield contractors to provide mission-critical services in some of the world’s most dangerous locations,” write Ebner and Himes in the brief. “Subjecting U.S. military support contractors to the substantial expense and burden of litigating state tort suits for combat-zone injuries allegedly related to their contractual performance would discourage them from participating in such work.”

A copy of the amicus brief is available here. 

For almost half a century, ALF, a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan, public interest law firm, has advocated in the Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, and state appellate courts for individual liberty, free enterprise, property rights, limited & responsible government, sound science in judicial & regulatory proceedings, and effective education, including parental rights and school choice.

Himes focuses her practice primarily on government contracts matters. She has more than 25 years of experience litigating and consulting involving a wide range of matters. She has significant experience asserting federal doctrines and defenses, such as federal officer removal, the political question doctrine, combatant activities preemption, derivative sovereign immunity, and the government contractor defense. She also specializes in cyber and industrial security matters, particularly those involving Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence issues.