Davis Polk prepared and filed, on a pro bono basis, an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Committee for Economic Development, a non-partisan organization of business leaders, urging the US Supreme Court to grant certiorari in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Company. On November 14, 2008, the Court granted the petition.

The case involves a West Virginia Supreme Court justice who refused to recuse himself from an appeal of a $50 million verdict against Massey Coal Company, even though Massey's CEO spent $3 million supporting the justice's election, which occurred after the verdict but before the appeal was heard. In the appeal, the justice cast the deciding vote in a 3-2 decision reversing the judgment against Massey. The Court granted certiorari to decide whether the West Virginia justice's failure to recuse himself from a case in which one of the parties provided substantial campaign support violates the due process rights of the other party. Davis Polk anticipates continuing its representation at the merits stage. The Court is likely to hear oral argument in the case in the session that begins February 23, 2009, and continues through March 4, 2009.

The Davis Polk litigation team includes partners Daniel F. Kolb and Edmund Polubinski III, counsel David B. Toscano, associates Sarah McDonald Egan and Jason M. Spitalnick, and summer associate Benjamin Beaton. All members of the Davis Polk team are based in the New York office.