About Elbert
Elbert Lin graduated from Yale College in 1995, earning dual concentrations in Ethics, Politics and Economics and Electrical Engineering. He returned to Yale for law school and received his J.D. in 2000. The combination of an undergraduate technical background and legal training shapes the analytical approach he brings to appellate work.
Early in his career Lin took a series of clerkships and government posts that exposed him to trial and appellate practice. He clerked for Senior Judge Robert E. Keeton on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 2003 and served as a trial lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice in 2004. He then clerked for Judge William H. Pryor Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 2006 and joined Wiley Rein LLP as an associate in 2007. In 2010 he served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court.
After his Supreme Court clerkship, Lin returned to private practice. He became a partner at Wiley Rein in 2011. Two years later he left that role to serve as Solicitor General of West Virginia, a post he held in 2013. The Solicitor General role placed him at the center of state appellate litigation and policy disputes, where he supervised appeals and represented the state in higher courts.
Lin moved back to private practice and joined Hunton & Williams LLP as a partner in 2017. When the firm became Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, he continued there as a partner beginning in 2018. His résumé includes admissions across a wide range of federal and state venues. He is admitted in Massachusetts, Virginia, West Virginia, the District of Columbia and in numerous federal circuits and district courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit, the Federal Circuit and several regional courts of appeals.
His memberships reflect sustained engagement in appellate and federal law circles. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and serves on the Federalism and Separation of Powers Practice Group executive committee of the Federalist Society. He also holds memberships in APABA DC, the John Marshall Inn of Court, and the Administrative Conference of the United States. Earlier in his career he participated on a telecommunications and electronic media practice group executive committee.
Today Lin practices as a partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. He focuses on appellate litigation, constitutional and administrative law, and federal court practice, representing clients in complex appeals and advising on high-stakes legal questions.
