Chad E. DeVeaux

Partner

Overview
Credentials
Experience
Insights
Publications

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Chad DeVeaux is a Partner at Bartko Pavia LLP who specializes in constitutional litigation. He has been on the winning side of myriad 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 is also skilled in Federal Indian law, antitrust, and unfair competition litigation.

Prior to joining the firm, Chad 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 has extensive experience in horizontal federalism, which is 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 has also authored nine law review articles and 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.

Credentials

Education

Harvard Law School, LL.M. (Constitutional Law)
University of Notre Dame, J.D., summa cum laude
Bowling Green State University, B.A., cum laude

Bar Admissions

State Bar of California

Court Admissions

United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
United States District Court for the Southern District of California
United States District Court for the Central District of California

Recognitions

Professor of the Year, Concordia University School of Law, 2012-2013
Dean Joseph O’Meara Award, University of Notre Dame, 2001
Best Law School Exam/Paper (equivalent of AmJur or CALI award): Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Federal Indian Law

Experience

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).

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).
Kalamas v. John Muir Health, No. C22-00088, 2022 WL 19843175 (Cal. Super. Dec. 8, 2022) (granting anti-SLAPP motion striking claims by physician that targeted protected speech and petitioning activities).
Kalamas v. John Muir Health, No. C22-00088, 2023 WL 3514431 (Cal. Super. April 26, 2023) (awarding $499,903 in fees and costs for successful anti-SLAPP motion).
Peterson v. Sutter Med. Foundation, No. 23-2911, 2025 WL 1823959 (9th Cir. July 2, 2025) (affirming decision in Peterson v. Sutter Med. Foundation, 615 F. Supp. 3d 1097 (N.D. Cal. 2022) granting anti-SLAPP motion striking claims by physician that targeted protected speech and petitioning activities).
Peterson v. Sutter Med. Foundation, No. 3:21-cv-04908, 2023 WL 5181634 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 10, 2023) (awarding $105,526.01 in fees and costs for successful anti-SLAPP motion).
Laub v. Horbaczewski, No. LA CV17-06210, 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).
Laub v. Horbaczewski, No. LA CV17-06210, 2024 WL 3466181 (C.D. Cal. July 11, 2024) (awarding $134,843.58 in fees and costs for successful anti-SLAPP motion).
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).
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).
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).

Insights

Press Release

14, May 2025

Bartko Pavia’s Patrick M. Ryan obtains $222 million jury verdict against Walmart

Press Contact

Press Release

05, June 2023

Hospitals Score Another Massive Victory Against the Blues as Court Rejects Insurance Companies’ Second Attempt to Dismiss Healthcare Providers’ Antitrust Claims

San Francisco, CA – In a June 5, 2023 Order, only made available on the public docket late June 6, 2023, the Honorable Evelio Grillo of the Alameda Superior Court, in VHS Liquidating Trust, et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, et al., Case Number RG21106600, issued a comprehensive Order resoundingly rejecting the Defendant Blues’ second attempt to dismiss the Plaintiffs’ claims.

Press Release

09, November 2022

Bartko Pavia Secures Major Victory In Kalamas v. John Muir Health

Luzann Fernandez, Patrick Ryan, Chad DeVeaux, Kerry Duffy, and Lisa Ferguson secured a major victory in Kalamas v. John Muir Health. The Bartko Pavia team filed an anti-SLAPP motion seeking to strike substantial portions of the plaintiff-doctor’s 800-plus-page Complaint against our clients John Muir Health and Calvin Knight, and two other defendants. The Complaint seeks significant damages for employment retaliation, infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract. In support of these claims, the Complaint targeted statements made during medical peer-review proceedings and academic critiques of medical protocols and scientific theories proposed by the plaintiff. Finding that these allegations targeted core speech and petition activities protected by the First Amendment, the California Constitution, and Civil Code § 47(b)’s litigation privilege, the Court granted Bartko’s motion, striking the plaintiff’s emotional distress and contract claims in their entirety, dramatically limiting the scope of her retaliation claims, and dismissing all the claims against the three remaining defendants. Please see the attached November 9, 2022 Order here. This sets up a motion for attorneys’ fees against a wealthy individual. This victory comes on the heals of a win in the Peterson v. Sutter Med. Found., No. 3:21-cv-04908-WHO, 2022 WL 2869531 (N.D. Cal. July 20, 2022)—an important anti-SLAPP decision decided last July in a case handled by Michael Abraham, Steve Steinberg, and Chad DeVeaux, leveraging Chad’s and Patrick’s prior anti-SLAPP work in numerous other cases. Patrick and Chad are leading practitioners in anti-SLAPP jurisprudence, having collectively prevailed in over 25 such motions across their career and working on some of the most important cases, including at the California Supreme Court level. In fact, this recent victory marked a “hat trick” for Bartko, as this was the third anti-SLAPP victory of the year.

Press Release

01, June 2022

Court Rejects Insurance Companies’ Effort to Dismiss Antitrust Claims and Limit Damages of Healthcare Providers

San Francisco, CA – On June 1, 2022, the Honorable Evelio Grillo of the Alameda Superior Court, in VHS Liquidating Trust, et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, et al., Case Number RG21106600, issued two comprehensive orders that emphatically rejected the Defendants’ attempts to dismiss the Plaintiffs’ claims and limit their potential damages.

Publications

12, January 2022

Impacts and Analysis of NFIB v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration

This article is a collaboration between Bartko’s L&E Department and our Constitutional Law Scholar.

Press Release

19, February 2020

Bartko Pavia Wins $845 Million Trade Secret Verdict for ASML

February 19, 2020 – Bartko Pavia scored the highest Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets victory in California in 2019 and was ranked Number 2 overall in the California Daily Journal’s Top Verdicts (PDF) by Dollar in California for 2019. In May of 2019, Bartko secured an $845,114,000.00 victory in Santa Clara County Superior Court. Patrick M. Ryan is quoted as saying: “One thing that’s always a challenge in a trade secret or intellectual property trial is the need to make complex technology simple and easy to understand for the jury.” Also, Patrick stated: “Over the course of the trial, we really went through the technology and explained how it worked and why it was important, and the jury really got it.”The trial team from Bartko was led by Patrick M. Ryan, and he and Stephen Steinberg, Sean McTigue, and Brian Smith all examined witnesses and gave argument during the trial, supported by Bartko attorneys Joseph Fraresso and Chad DeVeaux.

Press Release

19, February 2020

Patrick M. Ryan Scores Largest IP and Trade Secrets Victory in California for 2019 and 2nd Highest Overall Verdict According to the California Daily Journal

Honors and Awards

30, June 2019

Bartko Pavia Ranked Number 3 in The National Law Journal Top 100 Verdicts

Bartko Pavia ranked Number 3 in the Top 100 Verdicts for 2018 published by The National Law Journal (June, 2019) and had the highest ranked intellectual property victory in the United States for 2018. In November 2018, with a final un-appealed judgment entered in May of 2019, Bartko Pavia secured an $845,114,000.00 victory in Santa Clara County Superior Court. (See attached award from the National Law Journal).

Publications

One Toke Too Far: The Demise of the Dormant Commerce Clause’s Extraterritoriality Doctrine Threatens the Marijuana Legalization Experiment, 58 B.C. L. Rev. 953 (2017) (Boston College Law Review Symposium) (Symposium Chair and Co-Organizer)
The Monster Unleashed: How Hobby Lobby Threatens the Freedom of Employees to Practice Religion, 1 Conc. L. Rev. 114 (2016)
Fear and Loathing in Colorado: Invoking the Supreme Court’s State-Controversy Jurisdiction to Challenge the Marijuana-Legalization Experiment, 56 B.C. L. Rev. 1829 (2015) (with Anne Mostad-Jensen)
The Fourth Zone of Presidential Power: Analy zing the Debt-Ceiling Standoffs Through the Prism of Youngstown Steel, 47 Conn. L. Rev. 395 (2014)
Cited by Williams v. Lew, 819 F.3d 466, 470 (D.C. Cir. 2016)
A Tale of Two Searches: Intrusive Civil-Discovery Rules Violate the Fourth Amendment, 46 Conn. L. Rev. 1083 (2014)
Perverted Liberty : How the Supreme Court’s Limitation of the Commerce Power Undermines Our Civil-Rights Laws, 41 Cap. U. L. Rev. 49 (2013)
Trapped in the Amber: State Common Law, Employee Rights, and Federal Enclaves, 77 Brook. L. Rev. 499 (2012) Cited by Ace Am. Insur. Co. v. AERCO Int’l, Inc., 525 F. Supp. 3d 990, 998 (E.D. Mo. 2021); JAAAT Tech. Servs., LLC v. Tetra Tech Tesoro, Inc., 2017 WL 4003026, at *3 (E.D. Va. Sept. 11, 2017)
Lost in the Dismal Swamp: Interstate Class Actions, False Federalism, and the Dormant Commerce Clause, 79 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 995 (2011),
Cited by S.C. Johnson, Inc. v. Transp. Corp. of Am., Inc., 697 F.3d 544, 557 (7th Cir. 2012)
Rationalizing the Constitution: The Military Commissions Act and the Dubious Legacy of Ex Parte Quirin, 42 Akron L. Rev. 13 (2009)

Other Articles:

Do California Code of Civil Procedure § 425.17’s Exclusions of Anti-SLAPP Protection for Certain Ty pes of Commercial Speech Violate the First Amendment?, Lexology (Nov. 2, 2018)
Multiplying Loaves and Fishes: Why Congressional Debt-Ceiling Brinkmanship May Plunge Us into Economic Depression, PrawfsBlawg (Oct. 26, 2015) (with Jessica Berch)
Franchise Tax Bd. v. Hyatt: State Sovereign Immunity, Our Federalism, and Jerry Springer, PrawfsBlawg (Dec. 7, 2015) (with Jessica Berch)
“Joint” Post on Pot Federalism, PrawfsBlawg (Dec. 3, 2015) (with Jessica Berch)

Symposia and Speaking Engagements:

One Toke Too Far?: The Horizontal-Federalism Implications of Marijuana Legalization, Boston College Law Review Symposium, Boston College School of Law, Newton, MA (2017) (co-chair); Co-Panelists: Jessica Berch, Lea Brilmayer, Erwin Chemerinsky, Jack Chin, Katherine Florey, and Mark Rosen
Commencement Speaker, Concordia University School of Law, Spring Commencement, Boise, ID (May 14, 2016)
Problem-Solving Courts, Conference on Criminal Justice Reform, Concordia University School of Law, in partnership with the U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho and the Federal Defender Services of Idaho, Boise, ID (June 6, 2016) (moderator)
One Toke Over the (State) Line, Law and Society Conference, New Orleans, LA (June 2, 2016) (co-chair and panelist)
Congressional Dysfunction and Executive Lawmaking during the Obama Administration, Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting Academic Symposium, Washington, D.C. (Jan. 5, 2015) (panelist)
Commencement Speaker, Concordia University School of Law, Winter Commencement, Boise, ID (Dec. 18, 2015)