Robert Blake Watson

Robert B. Watson is an associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Gibson Dunn, where he currently practices in the firm’s Litigation Department.

Robert earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 2023, where he served as graduate student body president and was a member of the Journal of Law and Social Change. Robert received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he served as UCLA’s student body president, graduated magna cum laude, and was elected into college honors and phi beta kappa. Robert also holds a Master of Science degree in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Robert served as a term law clerk for the Honorable Robert D. Mariani, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, from 2023 to 2024.

Publications:

• Robert B. Watson & Neha Srinivasan, Conduct-as-Status in Skrmetti’s Gender-Affirming Care Bans, 102 Denv. L. Rev. --- (Forthcoming 2025). 
• Robert B. Watson & Neha Srinivasan, Under (Conduct-Based) Attack: Familiar Discrimination and the Trans Care Bans, 26 Geo. J. Gender & L. --- (Forthcoming 2025). 
• Robert B. Watson, A New Sex Education: The Title IX Defense Against “Don’t Say Gay”, 57 Ind. L. Rev. 403, 403 (2023).
• Robert B. Watson, Applying Bostock: The Queer Case Against Public Single-Sex Schooling, 51 J.L. & Educ. 185 (2022).  

Capabilities

• Appellate and Constitutional Law
• Crisis Management
• International Trade Advisory and Enforcement
• Labor and Employment
• Litigation
• National Security
• Public Policy
• Trials
• White Collar Defense and Investigations

Credentials

Education:

• University of Pennsylvania - 2023 Juris Doctor
• University of Pennsylvania - 2023 Master of Science
• University of California, Los Angeles - 2020 Bachelor of Arts

Admissions:

• District of Columbia Bar
• Kentucky Bar

Clerkships:

• USDC, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Hon. Robert D. Mariani, 2023 - 2024