Shane Pennington

Partner

Blank Rome LLP

Shane counsels clients on federal regulatory issues involving a number of industries, including energy, pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, aviation, and agriculture. A former law clerk to federal judges on the D.C. Circuit, the Fifth Circuit, and the D.C. District Court, Shane brings unique insight and strategic thinking to assist clients facing complex regulatory issues.

Rated “One to Watch” and a “Rising Star” in appellate law by The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers, respectively, Shane has argued cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Fifth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits, securing landmark results for clients. In a series of cases on behalf of veterans and scientists, for example, Shane raised a novel claim under the Freedom of Information Act to uncover a secret 2018 Opinion of the Office of Legal Counsel that revealed the unlawfulness of a longstanding agency policy that had obstructed cannabis research for over half a century. Shane regularly litigates cases concerning federal and state agencies that involve the Administrative Procedure Act; the Controlled Substances Act; and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Clients turn to Shane to advance their strategic goals within existing regulatory and legal frameworks, but also to develop creative strategies to reimagine those frameworks amidst rapidly changing industries. To that end, Shane often advocates for clients at the administrative level, working with state and federal regulators to devise novel solutions to seemingly intractable problems. He has represented companies, scientists, and industry coalitions before the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Justice, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shane has completed clerkships with three federal judges, including the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth, then-Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia; the Honorable Jennifer Walker Elrod of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; and the Honorable David B. Sentelle, then-Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. While in law school, he served as both the Articles Editor for the Texas Law Review and as Managing Editor with Texas Review of Law and Politics.

Shane has published extensively on topics related to administrative law and drug policy, including the private nondelegation doctrine, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, judicial deference to administrative agencies, and bureaucratic management and the limits of presidential power. Shane often provides commentary on administrative law issues to the Yale Journal on Regulation Notice & Comment blog and is a regular contributor to the “News From the Circuits” column published in the American Bar Association’s Administrative and Regulatory Law News.

Outside the Firm

Shane enjoys golf, kayak fishing, and camping with his wife, Erin, their two children, Saoirse and Cormac, and their Irish Terrier, Pippi.