Julie Rikelman

In DiFolco v. MSNBC, Rikelman was lead counsel for all NBC defendants from 2006 to 2011. The case involved claims of breach of contract, tortious interference, and defamation. Rikelman successfully removed the case from state to federal court, then handled the bulk of proceedings in the Southern District of New York and Second Circuit. Ultimately, most of the claims were dismissed and the parties settled the remaining claim.

Rikelman served as co-counsel for JPMorgan Chase in CFS. v. J.P. Morgan, a multi-party, securities fraud case. CFS, an Oklahoma corporation that bought and collected consumer debt receivables “charged off” by their original holders, sued Chase for professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duties. Chase cross-sued, arguing that CFS hid knowledge that its business model was failing long enough to bilk investors, creditors, and bankers of more than $1.5 billion. Rikelman was involved in all key aspects of litigation, including drafting briefs and motions and taking and defending depositions.

Rikelman’s election law experience includes serving as co-counsel for the Native-Interest Intervenors in In re 2001 Redistricting Cases. The cases, which were resolved on an expedited basis, required discovery, trial, briefing, and two appeals to the Alaska Supreme Court in a six-month period. Ultimately, the Alaska high court upheld the Board’s final amended redistricting plan in favor of Rikelman’s clients.

The first, June Medical Services v. Russo, involved a challenge to a Louisiana law that required all physicians providing abortion care to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The Center for Reproductive Rights represented an abortion provider and two physicians who argued that the law imposed significant burdens on abortion access without providing any benefit to pregnant people’s health or safety. Rikelman provided strategic oversight of the case in the lower federal courts and presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2020. Agreeing with Rikelman, the Court struck down Louisiana’s abortion restriction as an unconstitutional undue burden. This victory preserved critical access to abortion in Louisiana by permanently blocking a law that would have shuttered most of the state’s clinics.

The second case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, involved a challenge to a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, two months before viability. The Center for Reproductive Rights represented the last Mississippi abortion clinic, which argued that the law violated the right to liberty under Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The district court agreed, holding that the law was unconstitutional under Supreme Court precedent and permanently enjoined it. Mississippi appealed, and the conservative Fifth Circuit unanimously affirmed the district court ruling. Mississippi then sought and received certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court. Rikelman was involved in all key aspects of litigation, including conducting oral argument before the Supreme Court in December 2021. Despite Rikelman’s powerful arguments, the Court ultimately reversed both lower court decisions, overruled Roe and Casey, and upheld the Mississippi law.

Rikelman has participated as counsel in several other Supreme Court cases. For example, in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of five Texas clinics and three physicians and their patients, challenging a law that imposed admitting privileges requirements. Rikelman drafted the petition for a writ of certiorari and multiple briefs for petitioners. Ultimately, the Supreme Court sided with the Center and struck down the law, reaffirming the constitutional right to abortion.

Additionally, she represented abortion health care providers before federal appellate courts. ¹For example, in Jackson Women’s Health Organization v. Currier, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mississippi’s last abortion clinic, challenging a law which required physicians associated with an abortion facility to maintain admitting privileges at a local hospital and to be board-certified or eligible in obstetrics and gynecology. A federal district court granted a temporary restraining order and partial preliminary injunction. Rikelman served as lead counsel on appeal in the Fifth Circuit, drafting the appellate briefs and presenting at oral argument; the court affirmed in the clinic’s favor. She also led the briefing to oppose petitions for rehearing and certiorari, both of which were denied.