By OAAA

Kannon Shanmugam is a name you may not have heard. But don’t forget it, because you’ll probably hear it again.

Shanmugam represented the OOH advertising industry in Scenic America’s lawsuit against digital billboards.  On October 16, 2017, the US Supreme Court declined to take the case, ending the lawsuit.  Scenic America lost in federal court and on appeal. Shanmugam was hired by OAAA, which intervened on behalf of the industry as co-defendant in 2013.

Scenic America was the plaintiff. The US Department of Transportation was the defendant, along with its Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

OAAA’s longtime counsel Eric Rubin recommended hiring the litigation firm of Williams & Connolly in Washington, DC, where Shanmugam is a partner.

Peers regard Shanmugam as an unflappable advocate with sharp analytic skills who can boil down complex legal issues to their core.

Shanmugam:

Argued 20 cases before the US Supreme Court

• Entered Harvard at age 16 (summa cum laude, 1993)
• Earned an advanced degree at Oxford (1995), and a law degree from Harvard (magna cum laude, 1998)
• Clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

Joined the US Solicitor General’s office (2004): “I felt a strong urge to serve my country, especially in the wake of 9/11.” He argued eight Supreme Court cases on behalf of the government.

On November 15, Shanmugam turns 45.

He grew up in Kansas, a son of immigrants. On October 14, Shanmugam returned to Lawrence, KS, to speak at a memorial service for his father, Dr. Sam Shanmugam, who died at age 74. Born in a small town in India in 1943, the elder Shanmugam became a distinguished professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Kansas University.

In 1968, he emigrated to the United States with “$8 and faith in the promise of America,” Kannon Shanmugam said at his father’s memorial service.

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