Regan C. Hildebrand

Senior Counsel

Contact

Locations

St. Louis

Regan Hildebrand specializes in mitigating client costs in difficult and sometimes indefensible cases either through settlement or at trial. Drawing on over eighteen years of federal litigation experience, Regan has a strong background with all aspects of civil defensive litigation in claims involving employment discrimination and retaliation, medical malpractice, personal injury, Section 1983/Monell and class actions. In addition to being a trial lawyer who has personally handled both bench and jury trials in multiple United States District Courts throughout the United States, Regan also has an extensive background with appellate advocacy in the United States Courts of Appeal, having written appellate briefs in almost all of the Circuit Courts and represented the Attorney General of the United States in oral arguments in the Second, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Circuits. Regan has been described as a skilled and thorough attorney who brings seasoned insight to cases in order to seek the best outcome for the client.

Before joining GRSM, Regan served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Missouri, handling both defensive lawsuits against federal client agencies under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Federal Tort Claims Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act and affirmative matters under the Controlled Substances Act, the False Claims Act, the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. During his time at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Regan served as the Civil Division’s E-Litigation Coordinator, attending national trainings on the latest developments in electronic discovery and developing an interest in the emerging application of artificial intelligence to litigation. He also served as an EEO Investigator for the Executive Office of United States Attorneys, applying his litigation and analytical skills to the investigation of EEO complaints at the administrative level. Finally, Regan served as the Civil Division’s Civil Rights Coordinator, growing the office’s civil rights practice by personally handling investigations under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act; assisting the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division with trials; and engaging in outreach with members of the St. Louis community.

Prior to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Regan served as a Senior Assistant General Counsel of federal litigation with the Board of Education of the City of Chicago before being promoted to head the federal litigation unit as an Assistant Deputy General Counsel. During his time with the Board, Regan developed an expertise in employment litigation claims, as well as the aggressive defense of municipality Section 1983 claims under Monell. Regan also served for ten years with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C., where he personally handled claims of nationwide significance, including matters involving national security law and class actions concerning immigration enforcement.

Based on his experiences, Regan has an extensive background in the following areas:

Employment discrimination, harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation under Title VII
Age discrimination and retaliation claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Personal injury claims
Medical malpractice
Section 1983 and Monell claims
Class Action litigation defense
Immigration and Naturalization Law
Appellate Litigation

In addition to being a litigator, Regan has also taught litigation skills to law students and newly hired attorneys. For 10 years, he served as a judge for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, judging student appellate advocacy skills at the United States regional rounds in New York and Portland; in Bogota, Colombia, and Salvador, Brazil; and at the international rounds in Washington, D.C. For the last six years, he has served as an assistant coach with the Philip C. Jessup team at Washington University Law School. Finally, he served for thirteen years as an instructor with the National Advocacy Center, the U.S. Department of Justice’s training facility in Columbia, South Carolina, where he lectured on motions practice and taught trial techniques at a two-week long civil trial advocacy seminar.

Defended class action in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts against the Federal Government involving claims of nationwide significance, negotiating ad hoc discovery using Rule 30(b)(6) depositions to show client compliance with the Court ordered class remedy in order to avoid sanctions.
Successfully defended federal law enforcement officers in lawsuit regarding civil rights violations involving damages over $1 million. The suit was dismissed on qualified immunity grounds at summary judgment after extensive fact discovery.
Negotiated class action settlement that saved the Federal Government over $200,000 in costs.
Secured a $4.7 million judgment at trial in an indefensible medical malpractice suit against the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) seeking $15 million in damages for pathologist conduct. The judgment in the case was subsequently used as a lodestar for settling similar medical malpractice claims against the VA involving the same pathologist for considerably less money than the plaintiffs demanded during settlement discussions.
Negotiated settlements in multiple fraud cases that resulted in the payment of civil penalties to the Federal Government, saving on litigation costs but also resulting in recovery to the client agencies.
Successfully defended the Federal Government in medical malpractice trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, using expert witness and treater testimony to preclude recovery for future medical treatments, reducing $ 1 million demand by almost $400,000.

General and Government Privileges, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Education, National Advocacy Center, Columbia, South Carolina, 2024-2025
Civil Trial Advocacy Workshop, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Education, National Advocacy Center, Columbia, South Carolina, 2011-2016, 2019-2025
Motions Practice Seminar: Drafting and Responding to Summary Judgment Motions, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Education, National Advocacy Center, Columbia, South Carolina, 2019
Litigating Naturalization Denial Cases in U.S. District Courts, Federal Bar Association’s Immigration Law Conference, Austin, Texas, 2019
Who’s Watching? What the Government Knows About Your Client: Panel Discussion On Government Access To Client Data, American Immigration Lawyers’ Association Conference, San Francisco, California, 2018

Admissions

Illinois
Missouri
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Eighth Circuits

Education

LL.M. with distinction, Georgetown University Law Center, 2007
- Thomas Bradbury Chetwood, S.J. Prize, Awarded to Valedictorian in Individualized LL.M. Program; Dean’s List, 2006-2007
J.D., cum laude, New England School of Law, 2005
- Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court
- Best Oralist Award, Northeast Competition, 2004-2005
- New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement, Comment & Note Editor, 2004-2005
- Associate Member, 2003-2004
- Dean’s List, 2002-2005
- New England Scholar Award
- Awarded to Top 10% of Class, 2004-2005

M.A., summa cum laude, History, Ohio University, 1999
- Certificate, Contemporary History Institute
B.A., summa cum laude, with honors, History, Saint Louis University, 1993
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Phi Alpha Theta

Honors

Commendation, U.S. Department of Justice, September 28, 2021, for outstanding performance and assistance to the Civil Rights Division
Commendation, U.S. Department of Justice, October 22, 2024, for outstanding performance and assistance to the Civil Rights Division

Languages

German
Spanish