Joseph M. Capobianco

Associate Appeals

Washington, D.C. +1 202 389 3254

Joseph M. Capobianco

Overview

Joseph Capobianco is a litigation associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. His practice focuses on complex trial and appellate litigation as well as government investigation matters. Joseph has experience drafting dispositive motions and appellate briefs in antitrust, bankruptcy and tort actions.

Joseph graduated from the University of Texas School of Law with the second-highest grade point average in his class. After graduating law school, Joseph clerked for the Honorable A. Raymond Randolph on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the Honorable Sidney A. Fitzwater on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Judicial ClerkHonorable A. Raymond RandolphUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Judicial ClerkHonorable Sidney A. FitzwaterUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Law ClerkUnited States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas

Joseph maintains a diverse pro bono docket. He represents veterans in appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. He also represents indigent defendants appealing criminal convictions in federal courts of appeals. Joseph also assists clients in immigration proceedings.

More

Thought Leadership

Publications

Co-Author, “Faith, Federal Courts, and Free Speech: Do Federal Courts Protect Religious Speech More Than Non-Religious Speech?” The First Amendment Law Review, Vol. 22, No. 147, 2024

Author, “Rethinking the Right-to-Counsel-of-Choice Balancing Test: An Originalist Approach,” South Dakota Law Review, Vol. 68 No. 1, 2023

Author, Note, “Splitting the Difference: A Bright-Line Proposal for the Ministerial Exception,” Georgetown Law Review & Public Policy, Vol. 20 No. 1, 2022

Author, Note, “Has Social Media Destroyed a Federal Rule? The False Promise of Transfer to Cure Prejudice in the Social Media Era,” Texas Law Review, Vol. 99 No. 165, 2020

Credentials

Admissions & Qualifications

  • 2023District of Columbia
  • 2021Virginia

Courts

  • United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Education

  • University of Texas at Austin School of LawJ.D.with Highest Honors2021

    Vice Chancellor (second highest GPA)

    Order of the Coif

    Notes Editor, Texas Law Review

    Member, Supreme Court Clinic

  • The George Washington UniversityB.A., Political Science; Spanish & Journalism Minorsmagna cum laude2018