Douglas E. Hewlett Named a ‘Top 40 Under 40’ Lawyer by Daily Journal

With wide-ranging commercial, class action, and white collar defense litigation experience, Doug’s practice includes representing clients in complex commercial disputes, consumer protection matters, contract and fiduciary duty claims, and government investigations, across all phases of pre-trial, trial, post-trial, and appellate litigation. His knowledge extends across various industries and practice areas, including automotive, medical, consumer products, constitutional law, labor and employment, regulatory enforcement, and advertising and representation issues.

Daily Journal’s profile highlights how Doug was driven to law by a deep interest in civil rights.

“My grandmother and mother grew up in segregated Tallahassee, and when I was coming up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, racial tensions were still part of everyday life,” he told Daily Journal. “My grandmother and mother always said education comes first, and they taught me how those like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela used the law to help change society. I saw the law as a way to help take that further.”

Mentored by André Birotte, US District Judge of the US District Court for the Central District of California and former US Attorney for the Central District of California, Doug “saw a shining example of a Black lawyer with a direct stake in the law and social change.”

Doug’s career then took him to Miami, Florida to clerk for then-Chief Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida. “He told me, ‘I’m hiring you to be my lawyer for the year,’ and it was an amazing crash course in making executive decisions and writing orders in the real world of federal trial court law,” Doug told Daily Journal.

At ArentFox Schiff, Doug’s litigation skills were recently put to the test when he was asked to first chair the defense of the firm’s hospital district client against $3 million in claims by a group of physicians just a month before a two-week arbitration hearing. Despite the challenge, Doug obtained a finding of no liability and no damages. “It was a rewarding experience for someone who wanted to be known as a go-to litigator; we all knew the challenge, I rose to it, and won,” he told Daily Journal.

“ArentFox [Schiff] staffs cases leanly, so I’ve gotten hands-on experience early. I’m in court 30 or 40 times a year, and that’s awesome,” said Doug.

In 2023, Doug second-chaired a two-week trial in a class action over a student loan program. The class sought $153 million. Through a variety of motions and oral advocacy during the trial, he and the ArentFox Schiff team obtained the dismissal of all but one claim, and a jury verdict of $4 million — a 90% reduction of the other side’s ask.

Read Doug’s profile here. (Subscription required)

Armed with more than 200 litigators, ArentFox Schiff has argued and defended thousands of civil and criminal cases in both federal and state courts across the country and regulatory agencies and arbitral tribunals around the globe. In particular, the group is known for its ability to manage parallel civil and criminal litigation in multiple jurisdictions.