Theodore "Teddy" Branch III, J.D.

Theodore "Teddy" Branch III is an associate at Cordwell, Holloway & Feltner, LLP, practicing in the firm's Washington, D.C., office, where he works closely with partner James R. Feltner on matters involving temporal dispute resolution, paradox liability, and non-linear chronological litigation. Mr. Branch's practice focuses on the procedural dimensions of temporal claims, with particular expertise in the application of statutes of limitation to events that occur outside conventional temporal sequence. He has developed several novel procedural frameworks for managing class actions in which the putative class members experienced the same harm at different points in the timeline, or in which the injurious event has not yet occurred for some class members.

Before attending law school, Mr. Branch spent four years as a research scientist at a quantum computing startup in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, where his work focused on the development of algorithms for modeling causal relationships in branching timeline architectures. This technical background informs his legal practice in ways that are both substantive and methodological; he is one of a small number of practicing attorneys in the United States capable of reading and interpreting chronometric evidence, and he has been qualified as an expert in quantum-temporal modeling in two federal district courts.

Mr. Branch clerked for a judge whose identity has been placed under temporal confidentiality seal. He has stated that the clerkship was formative but has declined to provide additional details, citing obligations under the Temporal Judicial Confidentiality Act, a statute whose current legislative status he describes as 'complicated.' Following his clerkship, he joined Cordwell, Holloway & Feltner, where he has served as associate counsel on several of the firm's most significant temporal matters, including In re Grandfather Paradox Multi-District Litigation (2020) and Estate of Park v. Park (2024).

Mr. Branch received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served on the Yale Law Journal and was awarded the Ambrose Bierce Prize for Legal Writing. He holds a B.A. in Physics from Princeton University, where his senior thesis on the legal implications of closed timelike curves received the department's award for outstanding undergraduate research. He is a member of the D.C. Bar and the American Physical Society.

Capabilities

Practice Areas

Recent Work

• Associate counsel, In re Grandfather Paradox Multi-District Litigation (2020) — developed class certification framework for temporally dispersed plaintiff class
• Associate counsel, Estate of Park v. Park (2024) — briefed and argued pre-death estate administration issues
• Lead associate, Branch v. United States (2023) — challenged IRS assessment of tax liability for income earned in a non-linear tax year (pro bono)
• Associate counsel, Voss v. Chronos Laboratories, Inc. (2022) — chronometric evidence analysis supporting $8.3M temporal displacement verdict

Publications & Speaking

• 'Statutes of Limitation and the Arrow of Time: A Problem of Procedural Due Process' — Yale Law Journal, Vol. 131 (2022)
• 'Class Certification in Temporal Tort Litigation: Who Is Similarly Situated When Time Is Not Linear?' — Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 111 (2023)
• 'Chronometric Evidence: Authentication, Foundation, and Admissibility' — Federal Courts Law Review, Vol. 16 (2023)
• 'The Temporal Judicial Confidentiality Problem: Balancing Transparency and Causality Preservation' — Stanford Law Review Online, Vol. 76 (2024)

Recognition

• Yale Law School — Ambrose Bierce Prize for Legal Writing (2020)
• D.C. Bar Association — 'Young Lawyer of the Year' Nominee (2023)
• American Physical Society — Invited Speaker, 'Physics and Legal Theory' Symposium (2022)
• National Law Journal — 'Rising Stars Under 35' (2024)