Experience
Chad DeVeaux is a Principal of the firm. His primary areas of practice are commercial litigation, class actions, constitutional law, First Amendment and anti-SLAPP litigation, administrative law, white collar crime, antitrust, and unfair competition litigation.
Chad brings a wealth of experience to BZBM. Before joining the firm, he spent seven years as a Constitutional Law professor at Concordia University School of Law and Western State University and nine years as a commercial litigator. He is a nationally recognized expert in the field of horizontal federalism—the law governing the delineation of powers between the governments of different states. He is best known for his work on the dormant Commerce Clause and its applicability to multi-state class actions, environmental regulations, and marijuana laws. He has testified before the United States House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee as an expert on the Constitution’s extraterritoriality doctrine, the dormant Commerce Clause, the Tenth Amendment, and the scope of Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce.
Chad is also widely regarded as an expert in First Amendment, anti-SLAPP litigation, including cases involving the freedom of the press, medical peer review proceedings, political speech, commercial speech, and California’s litigation privilege.
Chad is experienced in all aspects of civil litigation, including law and motion, discovery, negotiation, and appeals. He has authored briefs at all levels of the federal and state court systems and successfully argued more than 30 matters before federal and state courts. He is particularly accomplished in constitutional law cases. He has been on the winning side of decisions involving the First Amendment, California’s anti-SLAPP statute, the dormant Commerce Clause, procedural and substantive due process, administrative law, housing rights, conflict of laws, the separation of powers, and federal enclave law. He also specializes in Federal Indian law.
Congressional Testimony
Prepared Statement and Live Testimony, Hearing on H.R. 2887, No Regulation Without Representation Act, United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary (Bob Goodlatte, Chair), 115th Congress (July 25, 2017) (invited by Chair Bob Goodlatte as an expert on extraterritoriality doctrine, dormant Commerce Clause, the Tenth Amendment, and scope of Congress’s power to regulate interstate commerce).
News/Media
Chad has provided commentary on constitutional law matters for the Washington Post, NPR affiliate KBSX, ABC affiliate KIVI, C-Span, Sirius XM’s POTUS program, and the legal blog PrawfsBlawg.
Representative Cases
Hillside Dairy, Inc. v. Lyons, 539 U.S. 59 (2003) (California’s agriculture regulations not exempted from Dormant Commerce Clause restrictions).
Att’y Gen. v. Clarke (2008) ZLR [SC] (Zambia), available at http://www.chr.up.ac.za/index.php/browse-by-country/zambia/500-zambia-attorney-general-v-clarke-2008-ahrlr-zasc-2008-.html (finding presidential order to deport British newspaper columnist for satirical cartoon violated right to freedom of the press).
Peterson v. Sutter Med. Found., 615 F. Supp. 3d 1097 (N.D. Cal. 2022) (granting anti-SLAPP motion striking all state-law claims filed by plaintiff physician because they targeted speech in connection with medical peer review proceedings, which is constituted protected petitioning activity, as well as other First Amendment protected speech relating to matters of public interest).
Laub v. Horbaczewski, 2019 WL 3492402 (C.D. Cal. July 30, 2019) (granting anti-SLAPP motion striking defamation counterclaim filed by counterclaimant represented by Morrison & Foerster and Davis Polk targeting edits to counterclaimant’s Wikipedia page based on finding that challenged edits were not defamatory and were protected by the First Amendment).
Societe Des Hotels Meridien v. LaSalle Hotel Operating Partnership L.P., 280 F.3d 126 (2d Cir. 2004) (reversing District Court’s dismissal of Lanham Act claim).
Swords to Plowshares v. Kemp, 423 F. Supp. 2d 1031 (N.D. Cal. 2005) (San Francisco’s Presidio remains federal enclave outside ambit of state regulatory authority).
Evanston Insur. Co. v. OEA, Inc., 2005 WL 3500799 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 20, 2005) (finding that California’s choice-of-law rules required application of notice-prejudice rule recently adopted by Colorado Supreme Court).
Swords to Plowshares v. Kemp, 2005 WL 3882063 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 18, 2005) (public housing eviction notice violated due process; HUD regulation preempted state law).
Hillside Dairy, Inc. v. Kawamura, 317 F. Supp. 2d 1194 (E.D. Cal. 2004) (striking down dairy regulations as violative of dormant Commerce Clause).
Clearstream Communications, Inc. v. Murray, 2003 WL 24309646 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 15, 2003) (granting plaintiff summary judgment in fiduciary duty/legal malpractice suit).
Swords to Plowshares v. Smith, 294 F. Supp. 2d 1067 (N.D. Cal. 2002) (public housing eviction notice violated due process; HUD regulation preempted state law).
Shugart v. OEA, Inc., 2005 WL 1503812 (Cal. App. June 27, 2005) (reversing $15 million verdict because the introduction of prejudicial evidence violated defendant’s due process rights).
S.B. Beach Prop. v. Berti, 39 Cal. 4th 374 (2006) (delineating degree of protections afforded by anti-SLAPP statute when plaintiff’s case terminates on other grounds before anti-SLAPP motion is decided) (amicus for former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm).
Robles v. Chalilpoyil, 181 Cal. App. 4th 566 (2010) (establishing principles delineating interplay of the anti-SLAPP statute and attorneys’ fiduciary obligations to their clients).
Rhein v. KNBR, Inc., 2006 WL 3193916 (Cal. Superior Mar. 1, 2006) (granting anti-SLAPP motion in wrongful termination/ defamation action by radio producer).
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