California

Founded in 2019 as a boutique dedicated to commercial and employment litigation, Berman North has risen as a formidable opponent against nationally recognized litigators and firms in California courts. The firm is home to Stacy North and Scott Berman, both of whom bring extensive experience and expertise in employment law and litigation. North handles unique cases on both sides of the “v”, mostly representing individuals against former or current employers.  North also defends clients against employers in employee mobility and restrictive covenant cases. Over the last year, she has obtained favorable rulings and settlements for clients. In one recent matter, she successfully defeated a motion to compel arbitration on behalf of her client. Scott Berman’s practice is a fusion of employment and business litigation. Like North, he also represents clients in either a plaintiff or defendant capacity, and additionally, represents companies in his business litigation practice, giving a well-rounded perspective to clients seeking employment counsel. Berman’s recent casework in the employment space has largely focused on retaliation and wrongful termination cases, as well as wage and hour related disputes under state and federal laws.  

Bunsow De Mory is boutique focused on intellectual property, and particularly patents. Based in Redwood City (with other offices in Texas and in the DC area,) the firm is considered “very plugged in to the whole Silicon Valley tech scene.” It is also noted that the firm “had a very good year last year [in 2024], with some nice wins, and have also been in growth mode.” Indeed, the firm currently sits at 19 lawyers, 13 of these partners. Speaking to the partners’ individual qualities, peers note that [firm founder] “Henry Bunsow is kind of a legend out here [in the Bay Area.] He was at a number of other firms before striking out on his own to put this outfit together.” Another name partner, Denise De Mory is considered “something of a leader there now.” A client describes DeMory as “brilliant, innovative and creative, and a pleasure to work with.” Another elaborates, “She’s aggressive but does a good job of balancing risk and reward. She allows significant client involvement.” Beyond the name partners, Michael Belloli receives client acclaim for his “communication, in-depth knowledge of law and effective strategies in patent litigation.” Michael Flynn-O’Brien has, in addition to patent work, been building out a profile in the trade secrets space, a particularly robust phenomenon in the Bay Area. A client cheers Flynn-O’Brien’s “timeliness, attentiveness and strategic thinking,” and explains, “Michael is incredibly adept at striking the balance between business interests and litigation strategy. He is exceptionally intelligent and is able to master the fundamentals of the tech or product that is usually at the heart of the cases he is working on and is a skilled trial attorney.”

Davis Polk & Wardwell is a consistent leader in litigation, earning its place as one of the top-tier firms in antitrust, securities, and white-collar crime especially. The firm’s growth over recent years has strategically established its presence in the New York, Washington DC and California markets. The accomplishments of its bench across practice areas have further driven the firm’s acclaim in high-profile litigation. A peer addresses Davis Polk partners as “outstanding financial litigators, very sharp across the board." Another insists, "They deserve their reputations for being really good lawyers."
     Davis Polk New York office continues to be revered as one of New York’s elite firms and is equipped with numerous respected lawyers. Greg Andres serves as the firm’s co-chair of the white-collar crime and investigation group and is one of the leading lawyers in the practice area, enjoying a spot on the Top 100 Trial Lawyers list since its inception. Andres led JPMorgan Chase to a March 2024 triumph when the DoJ moved to dismiss with prejudice a two-count criminal information filed against the financial institution in 2020 in connection with a 2020 deferred prosecution agreement, which arose out of spoofing activity in the precious metals and treasuries futures markets by traders on the bank’s precious metals and US.Treasuries desks between 2008 and 2016. This agreement compelled the bank to cooperate with numerous detailed conditions of the DoJ’s prosecutions. The court granted the government’s motion on the same day, holding that the bank “fully complied with all of [its] obligations under the agreement.” Andres also, along with Dana Seshens and lead partner James Rouhandeh, led Morgan Stanley to victory in a matter, stemming from 2012, common law fraud claims brought by a German bank arising from the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007. The Davis Polk team obtained partial summary judgment in 2023, but the court still permitted the plaintiff bank to proceed to trial on two other purported misrepresentations alleged in the complaint. The court heard oral argument in August 2024. Seshens and Martine Beamon scored for Attorney General Letitia James in February 2025, securing dismissal of harassment claims filed by a plaintiff alleging that James’s former Chief of Staff (who is separately represented in the action) sexually assaulted her at an event in November 2021 and that James and her Office were liable for his alleged conduct.

     Andrew Ditchfield has emerged as another one of the firm’s most prominent players. “Andrew is a complete rockstar and we’re seeing him more and more,” confirms a peer. “He’s suddenly everywhere, and it’s kind of out of nowhere!” Ditchfield  obtained a May 2024 victory for Exxon Mobil in a breach-of-contract action brought in New York State Supreme Court. The plaintiffs were former shareholders of InterOil Corporation, a Canadian oil-and-gas company that was acquired by ExxonMobil in 2017. The plaintiffs sued ExxonMobil four years after the transaction closed, alleging that it breached its contractual obligations by failing to pay the full amount of post-closing contingent consideration due to them under a Contingent Resource Payment agreement that was executed in connection with the acquisition. In April 2022, Ditchfield moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue their claims because the agreement barred individual shareholders or small ad hoc groups (like plaintiffs) from instituting any action to enforce the agreement. The court agreed and dismissed the complaint. The plaintiffs appealed to the Appellate Division, First Department, which affirmed the dismissal in a 3-2 decision in March 2023. The plaintiffs then appealed to the Court of Appeals, which unanimously affirmed the dismissal of the complaint. Ditchfield also represents Novo Nordisk in connection with three lawsuits filed in Delaware Chancery Court relating to its acquisition of Emisphere Technologies. Bankruptcy star Elliott Moskowitz won an appellate victory in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department in December 2024 for a group of lenders that participated in an October 2022 financing transaction undertaken by a major Canadian telecommunications provider. Following the 2022 transaction, the participating lenders were sued, in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of New York, by other lenders that did not participate in the 2022 financing. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs challenged liens securing more than $850 million in debt owed to the participating lenders and sought money damages on the basis that the restructuring transaction allegedly violated the terms of preexisting credit agreements, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, among other claims. Paul Spagnoletti has carved out a premier spot in the professional liability capacity, generating particular acclaim for his defense of law firms. One peer testifies, “I witnessed Paul do a terrific job. He was effectively in the lead of a very complicated dispute with multiple law firms and billions at stake.”

Launched in 2017 as an Orange County-based litigation boutique, Everett Dorey now houses 23 attorneys throughout four offices in California, including coverage in the northern half of the state, as well as one office in Phoenix, Arizona. The firm emphasizes its agenda as a California-based firm representing state-domiciled clients, with most of its work taking place in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. “They represented me in litigation with charter and adult education programs,” confirms one client. “They are responsive, proactive and imaginative – and they win in court.” Firm founder and name partner Seymour “Sy” Everett is lead counsel on several cases of particular gravity to communities within the Los Angeles and Orange County areas. He represents the City of Costa Mesa, which passed an ordinance to regulate sober-living homes, as it was one of several cities within Orange County that had been plagued by unscrupulous sober-living home operators, resulting in deaths and negatively affecting residential neighborhoods throughout the area. As a result of this ordinance, the city has been targeted by eight different sober-living home operators in lawsuits filed in federal court. Everett prevailed in five cases via motions for summary judgment and, in April 2022, received a unanimous defense jury verdict in the Central District. Everett is also attending to similar litigation for the City of Orange in litigation with a soup kitchen for addicts with no interest in recovery and thus perpetuating crime and disturbance in the community. The city found itself getting sued upon terminating the soup kitchen’s license, with a federal judge stepping in and essentially denying the city’s right to manage its own property. As a result of settlement reached in May 2022, Mary’s Kitchen will be leaving the property and the City of Orange took back possession of the property in August 2022. The City has taken over provision services to the homeless at the property, in place of Mary’s Kitchen. A client testifies on Everett’s behalf, “Sy listens and is thoughtful, but he is also proactive and a strategic thinker.” Samantha Dorey, another founding and name partner, advises clients on non-litigated matters, including development of risk-management protocols and procedures related to property management and environmental issues.

Headquartered in the UK, global powerhouse Freshfields has achieved remarkable success in establishing a US presence; indeed, it can be argued that it has entrenched itself in this market to a broader and deeper extent than any of its “Magic Circle” contemporaries. This is especially true with regard to litigation, with Freshfields boasting an ever-expanding team in the securities and commercial litigation capacities, in addition to an established international arbitration and white-collar bench.
     Many credit the firm’s relatively recent spike in the securities area to Meredith Kotler and Mary Eaton, both of whom operate from the New York office. “They are both very strong individually, and together, they make a formidable duo,” states one peer. Kotler is cheered by a client as a “quick learner, good communicator and a strategic thinker,” and a peer testifies, “I look for different styles when I’m referring a securities case to someone, and if I have a case that needed a ‘fire-breathing dragon,’ it’s Meredith Kotler. She is a former prosecutor and brings that energy.” The duo of Kotler and Eaton successfully represented global pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and two of its executives in a stockholder class action in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, challenging Viela’s US $3 billion sale to Horizon Therapeutics.  The complaint alleged that AstraZeneca – which held 26% of Viela’s stock – controlled Viela as a result of the support agreements and coerced Viela’s Board to sell the company to Horizon for an unfair price. In December 2023, Kotler argued for motion to dismiss, which was granted in July 2024. David Livshiz and Jennifer Loeb are representing Rio Tinto in a US federal climate change class action in Puerto Rico. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants’ production, promotion, refining, marketing and sale of fossil-fuel-based consumer product caused losses, deaths and destruction of property resulting from severe storms in Puerto Rico in September 2017. Livshiz is championed by a client as “incredibly responsive, exceptionally bright and able to synthesize extensive information in a short period of time. He is extremely knowledgeable about our business and able to provide strategic and pragmatic solutions.” Loeb is also cheered as “clear, proactive and thoughtful.” Freshfields’ amplification of its securities practice has been no less successful on the West Coast, where the team is bookended by Boris Feldman and Doru Gavril. Feldman is a seasoned local luminary whose “name drops a lot of weight in this [Bay] area” and who, despite his senior status, remains firmly on the cutting edge, specializing in the tech space, the dominant Bay Area industry. A peer opines, “I think Boris would be bored with just basic securities work! Give him tech-related cases, and that’s where he shines. It seems to me that’s really where he wants to be, and he’s got the chops and vocabulary for it.” Feldman and Gavril have been representing gaming platform Roblox in every shareholder lawsuit it has had since its public listing. Feldman also worked with Livishiz for AI juggernaut Palantir and several of its officers and directors in parallel securities class-action and derivative litigation. The team achieved complete dismissals with prejudice at the pleading stage in both federal and state courts.
     Freshfields has also doubled down on its commercial litigation area, having lured New York star Gayle Klein to its bench two years ago. Klein leads a team  representing Tesla in four putative class actions relating to a company data incident involving the misappropriation of company data by former employees. Plaintiffs allege that Tesla failed to protect the personal information of over 75,000 current and former employees that was exposed in the incident.  

A national powerhouse, Gibson Dunn’s scope of services extends beyond litigation, but in this disputes capacity, it has consistently displayed its prowess in almost every sub-practice area. The firm has extended well beyond its California roots and has gone on to claim a dominant position in every US locale in which it operates. “They are obviously smart litigators with a well deserved great reputation. We see them a lot,” testifies one peer. Another extols, “They are professional, zealous advocates. They handle DEI and employment issues deftly — they’ve got strong depth, especially in DC." Even in smaller jurisdictions, it is noted that Gibson Dunn goes all in. One example is Colorado, where a local peer confirms, “Out of all the national firms here, Gibson Dunn has invested the most in staying in Denver. It’s mostly labor and employment and investigations, but it’s still a strong and visible group.”
     Perhaps nowhere is this demonstrated greater than the firm’s move into Texas, which it has implemented with aplomb, establishing itself as one of the top shops in both the Houston and Dallas markets.  “Gibson Dunn does what they do,” sums up a local peer, “and they are very selective. They take only a few cases, and they work the hell out of them.” Another goes so far as to address them as “perhaps the strongest shop in Dallas right now, and they did it fast! There are a lot of great firms here that have been here much longer.” A multi-city Texas team of trial team composed of Trey Cox, Colin Cox and Gregg Costa secured a resounding victory for Energy Transfer in a case that held that First Amendment rights did not extend to violent and destructive behavior. After more than three weeks of trial in North Dakota, a state court jury awarded over $660 million in damages against Greenpeace and its affiliates. Energy Transfer had argued that Greenpeace had facilitated trespass, nuisance, and civil conspiracy in relation to demonstrations held against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Costa and Trey Cox reside in Dallas, while Colin Cox sits in Houston. “Colin Cox is excellent,” insists a peer. “He was at a local firm, and candidly it was assumed by all that he would be the heir apparent for a more senior partner. When that didn’t happen, Colin left and went to Gibson Dunn to help build their Houston office, which he’s doing a great job with. He’s going to get more opportunities to shine there.” Dallas-based appellate star Allyson Ho scored big in June 2024 when the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled to reverse the contrary decisions of three lower courts, handing client Truck Insurance Exchange a resounding victory in a case concerning allegations of widespread fraud among claimants seeking insurance recovery from a bankruptcy trust for asbestos injuries. 

     The firm continues to dominate in its native California. Los Angeles’ Theane Evangelis, whose practice traverses appellate, employment,  media and entertainment, and class actions, won a victory on behalf of the City of Grants Pass, Oregon in a landmark case addressing whether the Eighth Amendment bars local governments from enforcing public-camping regulations after the Ninth Circuit held that it would be cruel and unusual to impose any punishment, no matter how small, for sleeping on public property if a person has no access to alternative shelter. Antitrust and class-action partner Sam Liversidge also receives peer plaudits. “My first time working with him on was [on a case regarding] HP but he was very good. He takes a bold position in trial.” Brian Lutz in the San Francisco office is representing Meta (Facebook) in a high-profile securities class action and shareholder-derivative action arising out of misuse of user data by Cambridge Analytica, and Facebook’s $5 billion resolution of allegations by the FTC that Facebook violated a consent decree. After three orders dismissing the action, the Ninth Circuit reversed, with a dissent. Lutz convinced the US Supreme Court to review the Ninth Circuit’s opinion. “We work with Brian Lutz on this Meta stuff,” confirms a co-counsel. “He is fantastic and a true pleasure to work with.”
     Gibson Dunn’s New York office is home to two of its “next-generation” stars in the intellectual property capacity. Dr. Jane Love is noted by patent-focused peers as having “done a lot of work on the bio side,” and Brian Rosenthal is noted for his work with in the tech space. “Brian represents Apple, and he’s fantastic.”

Hausfeld has emerged as a plaintiff-side firm to be reckoned with in several categories. Unlike many other companies of its ilk, however, the firm has not opted for taking the “boutique” route and has instead embedded itself globally, with litigators practicing in 11 offices throughout the US and in Europe. Primarily in the antitrust capacity, Hausfeld is an undisputed trailblazer, identified as a ubiquitous presence by peers on both the plaintiff and defense sides of the “V.” One major defense peer confirms, “Hausfeld is who we almost always see on the plaintiff side if there is antitrust class action. Even if it’s not exclusively them, they are always somewhere in the mix.” Another frequent opponent notes, “They have a wide scope regarding antitrust actions, and they are also huge in sports. I do a great deal of this work, and it’s nearly always against Hausfeld, at least in the biggest and best cases.” Still another sums up the firm’s stature by saying, “Many firms try to do what they do, but Hausfeld is one of the few that gets it right and one of the ones we take the most seriously.” Over the past several years alone, the firm has landed national headlines for its dogged pursuit of antitrust and sports claims. The firm was chosen by the DC Attorney General’s office in May 2021 to spearhead its efforts in a massive antitrust case against online retail juggernaut Amazon. More recently, Hausfeld scored big as co-lead counsel in a major case alleging that more than 30 Blue Cross/Blue Shield entities across the country have entered into agreements not to compete with each other for customers of health insurance. The litigation sought damages on behalf of a proposed class of more than 100 million subscribers, along with injunctive relief that would increase competition in the market for health insurance. After eight years in litigation, the plaintiffs scored a $2.67 billion settlement in October 2020. In addition to monetary relief, the settlement proposes systemic injunctive relief that will change the landscape for competition in healthcare. This settlement was approved in August 2022 – Judge Proctor approved the $2.67 billion settlement on behalf of employers and individuals.

While the DC office – where firm founder and former name partner Michael Hausfeld is based – has long been viewed as the firm’s center of gravity, with his transition to a “chairman emeritus” position, several California-based partners are taking bigger roles. “It’s more about the team now,” observes one peer. Megan Jones in the San Francisco office has been identified by several peers as “a leader at Hausfeld now,” with one peer testifying, “I have been very impressed with her, she has been leading quite a few cases.”

Melinda Coolidge, based in the DC office, serves as managing partner for the firm as well as attending to her own litigation matters that have earned her a debut as a future star in this edition. In July 2022, Coolidge led a team that reached a $90 million settlement in a ground-breaking case on behalf of app developers nationwide challenging Google’s 30% revenue share imposed on apps and in-app products sold on the Google Play Store. Coolidge is also part of a team is at the forefront of antitrust litigation over allegations that the nation’s four largest freight railroads – Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, and Norfolk Southern – colluded on fuel surcharges and overcharged customers by billions of dollars collectively.

While Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel has been a mainstay of the New York legal community since its inception, it has, in recent years, expanded in a modest and measured fashion, starting with an office in Silicon Valley, and moving full steam in to the DC market by storm with its auspicious acquisition of prized local shop Robbins Russell, incorporating a deep team of celebrated practitioners across several practice areas. “That’s a big deal,” sums up one local peer, voicing the general consensus. “Robbins Russell was a classic DC firm and now the platform has given both sides many new opportunities.” Key among these new recruits is appellate “dynamo” Roy Englert, a frequent visitor to the Supreme Court and an authority in the practice. Englert is “all appeals, all the time,” and respected by a vocal percentage of the leading figures in the DC appellate community. “Roy is fantastic,” testifies one peer. “He brought an amicus in a case we are working on, and we were very impressed.” Gary Orseck is another recruit with fluency in appeals, as well as a broad-based commercial, securities and white-collar practitioner. “Gary is a tremendous lawyer,” extols a peer. “He has a really good sense of judgment and is a great writer.” Orseck’s achievements exemplify these ringing endorsements; he defended United Health Services’ officers and directors in a derivative suit alleging securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims, relating to alleged improper patient-admission practices at the client’s affiliated behavioral-health facilities throughout the country. The claims were dismissed in 2019 but went to appeal In December 2021, at which point the parties resolved the matter, originally valued at more than $1.5 billion, on the basis of non-monetary reforms regarding corporate compliance. In a similar matter, Orseck leads a team defending Community Health Systems and certain of its affiliates and former officers against fraudulent transfer, breach of contract, illegal dividend, and related claims brought by the Litigation Trustee for the QHC Litigation Trust. The Litigation Trustee seeks to avoid, among other things, a $1.2 billion transfer from QHC to CHS in connection with a 2016 spinoff transaction. The DC group comes with some youth factor to balance out the senior talent; future star William Trunk is part of Orseck’s team on the aforementioned Community Health matter, and Ariel Lavinbuk comes equipped with a practice that encompasses commercial litigation as well as a bankruptcy element, an area for which Kramer Levin, through its New York office, has historically been seen as Tier 1. 

     The bankruptcy practice has earned plaudits from fellow leaders in the area. “It is run by Ken Eckstein and Tom Mayer, who are great in court, great at deals, and just great at bankruptcy everywhere,” declares one peer, who further attests, “I see them all the time and they give me and anyone else a run for the money.” Eckstein leads a team that, for the past three years, has served as lead bankruptcy counsel to represent the Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) of 10 state attorneys general, six municipalities, and the Plaintiffs Executive Committee in the multidistrict litigation and a federally recognized Native American Tribe in the ongoing bankruptcy saga of embattled opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma. White-collar crime is another field in which Kramer Levin boasts an unanimously lauded roster. “The Kramer Levin team actually does trials! That’s rare in the white-collar world, and these are actually for some very high-profile individuals,” marvels one peer. Barry Berke is an undisputed leading presence. He was recently thrust into the limelight when he was called into service as special counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives in connection with its investigation and impeachment proceedings of Donald Trump, and as of February 2020, Berke returned to Kramer Levin with newly burnished credentials. Not that he needed them; even before this engagement, Berke has been routinely identified by peers as “absolutely one of the best,” with one elaborating, “Especially at his age point, he has some of the best experience you could ask for and credibility beyond question.” Clients agree; one calls Berke “a counselor, a litigator, and a strategist,” and goes on to assert, “No one is better.” While Berke’s profile in the community is undisputed, others in this group are making their mark. Dani James acted with Berke in representing Theodore Huber, a partner and analyst at Deerfield Management, in parallel actions brought by the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission arising from Huber’s trading based on purportedly confidential government information relating to Medicare reimbursement for healthcare services. Both celebrated white-collar stars Berke and James represented biotech giant Amgen in a commercial litigation capacity in the client’s dispute with Novartis over the latter’s alleged breach of contract and tortious conduct arising out of the parties’ collaboration agreement to commercialize a migraine drug. On a counterclaim, Amgen alleged that Novartis breached the contract when it allowed its subsidiary to manufacture a competing migraine drug, and then actively concealed this from Amgen. The Kramer Levin team on this matter also included Norman Simon, who typically deals with cases involving the Lanham Act and false-advertising claims, niche areas in which Kramer Levin has been noted as being one of the few major players.
     The firm has recently developed a more “hard IP” practice, spearheaded by Dr. Irena Royzman, who is noted by peers to “occupy a definite presence in the pharma patent space.” Royzman has historically represented Janssen, and on behalf of this client sued several generic manufacturers under the Hatch-Waxman Act for infringement of patents protecting Symtuza, a treatment for HIV/AIDS. The action is in active fact discovery and claim-construction proceedings, and a bench trial is scheduled for October 2023. The IP area is bookended on the West Coast by Lisa Kobialka in the Silicon Valley office (opened in 2011). Kobialka, whose practice is primarily devoted to the tech space, brought patent infringement actions against Xerox and Ricoh relating to systems and methods covering various aspects of printers and/or copiers as well as their processes, performance and maintenance, and workflow management. 

     The firm upholds its dedication to labor and employment litigation, regularly representing high-profile clients in a variety of respects, particularly emphasizing – though not limiting itself to – highly sensitive and complex single-plaintiff employment disputes. No stranger to the public eye, employment law chair Kevin Leblang of New York is regularly active at the forefront of the most highly exposed disputes in employment litigation. Leblang currently defends Stifel in a sexual harassment lawsuit that has gained significant market attention. In 2022, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA) passed, leading the court to reverse its initial order to compel arbitration. Leblang has since appealed the decision to the Second Circuit. Leblang is routinely prepraing for trial. He is also active in discovery and pre-trial practice, defending Société Général in a sexual orientation and harassment lawsuit. Eliza Kaiser, also of the firm’s New York office, represents leaders across a variety of industries in disputes and investigations. Kaiser represented Facebook against a Department of Justice action that alleged that the company engaged in discriminatory hiring practices in the US in relation to its immigration policies. She negotiated a settlement with the DOJ as well as a parallel matter with the Department of Labor. Leblang and Kaiser’s fellow partner Robert Holtzman was recently engaged in three separate arbitrations on behalf of Natixis, all of which were successfully resolved.

Since its genesis in 2015, Los Angeles litigation boutique Hueston Hennigan has seen an ascent that can only be described as astonishing. Formed by a group of commercial litigators who peeled off of California institution Irell & Manella to launch this venture, Hueston Hennigan has forged itself a coveted position as a local litigation shop that has achieved state-wide and even national prominence. The firm is noted for its mission of putting a premium on trial work, a mission that has been fulfilled with rapid momentum on several high-level appointments. “They have just been massively successful,” sums up one East Coast litigator, stating a consensus shared by many. The firm’s client base is remarkably diverse, ranging from individuals to a variety of entities encompassing tech giants, Native American tribes, the Boy Scouts and the California State Bar (to name but a few), with very little repeat business and virtually no “routine” cases. “Hueston Hennigan doesn’t do the ‘cookie-cutter.’ They do really cool, cutting-edge work,” declares a peer, who goes on to confide, “I admit it makes me jealous, and I’m sure I’m not alone!” Seemingly not content with dominating the Los Angeles area, the firm has discreetly planted a flag in the New York market as well, with a further buildout expected.
      Firm founder and name partner John Hueston is a trial trailblazer who has carved himself an enviable position even among others in the elite trial lawyer circuit. “I’ve seen trial lawyers rise and fade but John is young and vibrant enough to be in this for the long haul,” opines one peer. A client testifies on Hueston’s behalf. “John is incredibly smart and strategic. He is a true trial lawyer – he relishes the fight and is unafraid of a courtroom.” Hueston’s proven activity as lead counsel on a number of high-level appointments more than supports this near-unanimous acclaim. Hueston is not alone in his trial prowess and activity, however. Moez Kaba has staked himself a position as another of the firm’s lead trial counsel, acting in tandem with Hueston or on his own on some of the firm’s most high-stakes disputes. Kaba made his debut as one of the Benchmark Top 100 Trial Lawyers before his fortieth birthday, and his position on that list remains secure again this year, as does that of Hueston, who has appeared every year since the list’s inception. This duo secured a complete defense victory for Boeing when the court overturned the $72 million jury verdict in favor of [now defunct] aerospace startup Zunum (in which Boeing invested) in a high-profile trade-secrets case alleging Boeing’s actions caused Zunum to go out of business. Zunum sought nearly $500 million from Boeing. Acting as replacement trial counsel, Hueston and Kaba handed Boeing a win, defeating Zunum’s claims as well as securing $12 million from Zunum on Boeing’s cross claim. A team composed of Hueston, Kaba and Alison Libeu (who argued the matter before the panel) prevailed at the Ninth Circuit in April 2025, persuading the judges to uphold the firm’s $311 million false-advertising trial judgment and permanent injunction against Vital Pharmaceuticals and its former owner and CEO Jack Owoc. This victory built upon a $293 million jury verdict the firm obtained in 2022 for energy drink entity Monster in a high-profile lawsuit involving claims of false advertising, tortious interference and trade secrets theft against VPX. The jury found VPX and Owoc falsely advertised the alleged “Super Creatine” ingredient in VPX’s billion-dollar Bang energy drink. The jury awarded $272 million against both VPX and Owoc for false advertising and another $21 million against VPX itself for tortious interference and trade secrets theft. In its post-trial judgment, the court added over $43 million in attorneys’ fees, expenses and prejudgment interest to the jury’s award, with over $39 million of that tacked onto the false-advertising claim. Kaba also acted with Robbie Klieger, whose practice has a dedicated entertainment industry niche, in securing a March 2025 triumph when a federal jury awarded client Disney a complete defense verdict in a high-profile suit brought by an animator who alleged Disney infringed his copyrights to develop the blockbuster film, “Moana.”  The plaintiff alleged he had passed his materials to a family member who worked on a Disney lot, but the jury decided that the creators of “Moana” never had access to the plaintiff’s outlines and script.

While based in Irvine, Keller/Anderle generates acclaim from all over California and, in some cases, attends to matters that resonate nationally. The firm is specifically noted for its zealous trial-forward ethos, embodied by its founding partner and center of gravity, Jennifer Keller, a “fierce” trial lawyer. “They are an excellent firm, and Jennifer is amazing,” testifies a peer. “She gets brought in on a big case when it looks like it’s going to go to trial! They also do appellate work, but it really is more trial-centric. And they WIN!” Another contemporary confirms, “My favorite trial lawyer if I had to pick one is Jennifer Keller. I love her story, it’s a lot like mine. She was a public defender, she was in the gutter of the legal business, [dealing with] the blue-collar cases, and she has learned her craft that way and has learned how to speak to juries. She’s my hero.” Displaying a remarkable versatility in her trial prowess, and often on compressed timelines, Keller represented actor Kevin Spacey Fowler in a lawsuit filed by two plaintiffs actor Anthony Rapp and another anonymous plaintiff regarding alleged incidents that happened in the early to mid-1980s. The case was tried to a jury in October 2022 in the Southern District of New York. After five years of intense litigation and a jury trial, Spacey was unanimously found not liable after a mere 30 minutes. Keller is also representing Calvin Broadus – aka Snoop Dogg – against sexual battery allegations that were filed just four days before the Super Bowl where Snoop was performing with fellow rapper Dr. Dre. The plaintiff originally filed in Federal Court in January 2022 but after Keller’s two motions to dismiss, the plaintiff withdrew their complaint.

A full-service firm with a national, and global, footprint, Loeb & Loeb provides a wide array of legal services through its six offices throughout the US and two in China. In litigation specifically, the firm has deep ties to the entertainment industry. “It’s really time to take a closer look at Loeb & Loeb,” advises one contemporary. “For entertainment litigation, they are really quite dominant. They have some strong connections there, some very high-profile clients.” Another insists, “They have one of the best trust-and-estates groups in the country, and this is going to be a crazy growth area.”

     Not surprisingly, much of this is serviced by practitioners in its Los Angeles office. A team of Loeb litigators, led by partner Jim Curry, represents CBS in litigation relating to the popular daytime television program, “Judge Judy,” including defending CBS against first-of-their-kind cases involving claims that a sale of a television library should trigger a “buy-out” of the profit participant’s interest. The Loeb team also previously defended CBS against a related case where a former agent and profit participant sought a declaration that Judge Judy’s salary is too high and should not be deducted as a profit participation. Curry and his team won the case on appeal of the granting of summary judgment to CBS. “Jim Curry does a lot of work that many entertainment lawyers don’t like to do, like accounting disputes and audit claims, which is when someone is a participant in a TV show or a film and they see the accounting sheet and the film or show is underwater, so they dispute the accounting.” David Grossman is defending Paramount Pictures against the estate of Truman Capote in a lawsuit in which the estate is claims that they own the rights to the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The suit involves complex copyright questions, including questions related to the granting of rights by the Estate to Paramount. Grossman is also defending NBCUniversal, actor Gary Oldman and Working Title Group against claims of breach of implied in-fact contract and interference brought by a writer alleging that material from his working scripts about Winston Churchill ended up in the film Darkest Hour without credit or compensation.

Grossman also defended Netflix and the creators of the Netflix hit television series Stranger Things, against a copyright infringement case in which the screenwriter and producer filed suit asserting, among other claims, that the show included elements from the writer’s undeveloped screenplays and in particular that the “Shadow Monster” was based on a character the plaintiff created. LA partners John Gatti and Lauren Friedrepresent Miramax and its related licensees, including Amazon and Walmart, among others, in a suit brought by a photographer that claimed to own the rights to an iconic photograph of Uma Thurman used in a poster for the movie “Pulp Fiction,” which Miramax produced. After decades of Miramax licensing the image, the photographer claimed for the first time in his 2020 lawsuit that he owned the photograph, that Miramax had no right to exploit the photo in any way, and that Miramax and each of its licensees were liable for copyright infringement. The Loeb team successfully secured an order that the photographer was late in filing any copyright registration, thereby limiting the alleged damages. Gatti and Fried also represent singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman in a copyright-infringement case based on rapper and songwriter Nicki Minaj’s sampling of Chapman’s works without permission. On summary judgment, the district court found triable issues of fact as to whether Minaj could be held liable on Chapman’s distribution claim and set a date for trial. Minaj subsequently agreed to pay Chapman the full amount of damages sought and judgment was entered in the federal court case in Chapman’s favor for nearly half a million dollars.
     Operating from the firm’s New York office, Barry Slotnick and Tal Dickstein

are defending rapper Roddy Ricch, as well as songwriters, music publishers and the record label, against a copyright infringement suit alleging that Ricch used part of songwriter Greg Perry’s 1975 soul song “Come on Down” in Ricch’s 2019 hit “The Box.” This same pair is defending a number of individuals and entities against copyright infringement claims brought by Chris Brown involving the rights to the motion picture Down For Life.

Paul Weiss remains a brand name that is synonymous with blue-chip clients, and when these clients face extraordinary circumstances, the firm’s unassailable litigation team is a shortlisted crew in any conversation. “Paul Weiss sure has a whole lot of market share,” observes a peer. “They do great by their clients, and they are great at advising which cases to go all the way with and which cases to settle. The whole team is superb.” The firm’s litigation capabilities extend across virtually all major commercial practices, with star power at all levels within each of these, and the firm shows no signs of slowing in its agenda of recruiting and grooming this talent. Historically an East Coast powerhouse, the firm has since entrenched itself in the California market with the January 2021 addition of a San Francisco office, spearheaded by Melinda Haag and Walter Brown, two leaders in the white-collar area. Paul Weiss then followed with an office in Los Angeles, opened in 2024, with product liability specialist Kim Branscome installed in this outpost. “Kim made her bones on the talc cases for J&J,” testifies a peer. “I never tried a case with her, but I have read a few of her transcripts. She is known and respected in the products world, gets work.” The doubling-down on the West Coast was not the only recent development for the firm; a peer notes, “Paul Weiss is getting more involved in the employment area! [New York partners] Lisa Velasquez and Brette Tannenbaum are two people I would name for this, although Brette does a lot of other varied commercial work as well.”

     DC partners Bill Isaacson and trial lawyer Karen Dunn continue to draw acclaim for their antitrust work. The pair logged a March 2022 dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit filed by the DC Attorney General that challenged Amazon’s “fair-pricing” policy nationwide and then defeated the district’s post-trial motion for reconsideration and its motion to further amend its complaint in August. The case eventually wound up at the DC Court of Appeals, with oral argument taking place in December 2023. Appellate specialist Kannon Shanmugam is acting in the appeals capacity. “He’s amazing, really professional,” extols a peer on Shanmugam’s behalf. “He does a great job for his client and deserves the reputation he has.” Dunn and Isaacson, along with Jessica Phillips, also won a major bench trial victory in the District of Nevada on behalf of Oracle in a high-stakes, long-running copyright infringement dispute with Rimini Street. Issuing an extraordinary injunction order in July 2023, the court ordered Rimini to shut down its automated tools and issue and prominently post a 15-point press release in which Rimini discloses its alleged untruths to the public.
     New York’s Daniel Kramer and Audra Soloway, both stars in the securities capacity, logged another triumph for Amazon, and several current and former executives, in December 2023, when the Western District of Washington dismissed without prejudice a putative securities class action alleging that the defendants had defrauded investors in connection with statements made about Amazon’s relationship with third-party sellers and about the pace of growth in Amazon’s fulfilment distribution network. “Dan Kramer is really amazing,” raves a peer. “He’s got a great understated touch that is perfect for managing stressful borderline-crisis situations.” Kramer and Soloway also teamed up with Brown and Haag as trial counsel for Apple following the court’s denial of summary judgment in a securities fraud class action relating to a single statement by CEO Tim Cook on a 2018 earnings call concerning Apple’s business in China. Meredith Dearborn, another star in the firm’s San Francisco office, also was part of team. Dearborn lays claim to her own fan base in the securities community. “I like Meredith a lot,” asserts one peer, who goes on to confirm, “She worked with us on a case for [fintech and crypto entity] Ripple, and she impressed me. She’s young, maybe only 40, but is really poised for greatness.”
     In yet another Amazon engagement, a team composed of New York stars Roberto Gonzalez, Loretta Lynch and Jeannie Rhee were retained by the online retailing juggernaut in what is purported to be one of the largest publicly agreed-to racial equity audits to date. The audit analyzes the company’s overall policies, practices, programs and initiatives to determine their racial impacts on the company’s wage-earning employees.
     Enthusiasm for the always-championed New York securities star Brad Karp remains strong and shows no signs of abating. “Yes, Brad is still ‘the man,’” attests a peer. “You can expect that to be the case for a while yet. He’s in-demand, yes, largely due to his savvy, people-pleaser personality, but also because he really works hard for it.” Another peer supports this view: “He is still everywhere at once, still a hustler. One wonders if he sold his soul for this energy.” A team composed of Karp, Tannenbaum, Andrew Ehrlich and Lorin Reisner won a significant victory in April 2023 for The Blackstone Group and Blackstone Alternative Asset Management when a Kentucky Court of Appeals panel unanimously held that the Kentucky attorney general should never have been permitted to intervene in and revive a $50 billion derivative action in which the original plaintiffs were found to lack constitutional standing. The case was brought by a group of individual Kentucky public pension members in 2017, alleging that the Asset Management entity breached its fiduciary duties by unlawfully selling unsuitably risky custom funds of hedge funds to the pension agency, as well as engaging in a civil conspiracy among investment managers and trustees to conceal this.

Polsinelli has grown beyond its Kansas City roots to inhabit various strategic locations throughout the country. The firm’s aggressive expansion over the years has equipped it with breadth and depth in many areas of litigation, while still maintaining its premier reputation as a go-to litigation firm for the healthcare industry.

      Chicago’s Mary Clare Bonaccorsi previously served as Polsinelli’s Cross-Department Litigation Chair, while keeping an active practice mainly focusing on the healthcare industry, routinely leading high-stakes corporate internal investigations for clients in healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, her casework often involves false claims act litigation in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Thomas Gemmell and Daniel Reinberg join Bonaccorsi in the Chicago office. Gemmell’s practice mixes IP and business litigation. He leads several industry-specific practices, serving as lead of the unmanned systems and advanced robotics practice and co-lead of both the aviation practice and the transportation and logistics practice. Reinberg like Bonaccorsi concentrates his practice on the healthcare industry.

      John Peterson bridges a geographic and practice divide, practicing in Nashville and Chattanooga as well as Los Angeles, Peterson is a commercial litigator with vast experience in securities as well as real estate, and he is yet another Polsinelli partner devoted to healthcare litigation, an industry essential to Tennessee's economy. New addition to this year’s Litigation Star ranking is Atlanta-based partner Kurt Erskine. His practice’s focus is white collar crime, both investigating and litigating cases against state and federal entities. He is leading a healthcare company through a civil rights investigation conducted by the Department of Justice. Beyond the healthcare industry, Erskine is handling securities and insider trading fraud investigations by the SEC and DOJ, as well as a fraud case filed by the FBI and DOJ. Farah Nicol operates out of the firm’s Raleigh and Los Angeles offices and serves chair of the firm’s litigation department -- the first leader to not be based in Kansas City, the firm’s mainstay. Nicol’s primary focus is on product liability and toxic tort litigation.

     Rounding out the South, Dallas partner Adrienne Frazior debuts this year as a Litigation Star. She leads government investigations with an added expertise in employee benefits. Currently, Frazior defends companies that managed and administered self-funded health benefit plans in a Department of Labor investigation and subsequent litigation. She also defends a company in a matter alleging violations of Missouri Sunshine Laws, initiated by the state’s Attorney General.

     Polsinelli has maintained a commitment to upholding its labor and employment practice. Denise Drake, chair of the labor and employment practice, is among the firm’s leading, Missouri-based litigators. Drake is a leader through and through – leading the practice, the expansion into growing markets, and clients in their disputes. She has been consistently distinguished as a Labor & Employment Star since its inception, maintaining the status with a roster of notable class action disputes. Los Angeles litigator September Rea serves as the firm’s arbitration and dispute resolution vice chair, with Colorado-based Donald Samuels serving alongside her as chair. . Rea leads the California-based lawsuits arising from an investigation into allegations of C-suite misconduct that included abuse, harassment, retaliation and unfair competition. The case has spanned Italy, California, and Texas. Dallas’ Angelo Spinola specializes in handling labor and employment disputes on behalf of clients in the home health industry, particularly hospice and homecare companies. He recently resolved a lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) challenging the company’s alleged practice of not including certain nondiscretionary bonuses in the regular rate when calculating overtime pay. 

With seven of its 12 global offices situated strategically throughout the US, Proskauer provides a wide range of services to clients across a broad spectrum of practices ranging from commercial to intellectual property, securities to white-collar crime and investigations, as well as its near-unparalleled status in specialty areas of employment, entertainment and sports law.
     The firm has also seen a pronounced spike in its bankruptcy profile, solidly on the strength of its mammoth appointment as lead outside counsel to the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, which was created to oversee the restructuring of Puerto Rico's finances, valued at $125 billion, in accordance with the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA.) The Board's mandate is to return Puerto Rico to fiscal health with access to the capital markets, and to initiate pro-growth reforms designed to generate a free flow of capital between Puerto Rico and the US. This long-running and sprawling action involves a team of Proskauer attorneys from numerous offices, including Boston’s Timothy Mungovan, New York’s Martin Bienenstock and Margaret Dale, and Los Angeles’ Michael Firestein, all of whom have played substantial roles in the manifold turns of action in this matter since its beginnings. Dale, a commercial litigator who has made a noted pivot to bankruptcy, is involved in several other Puerto Rico-related issues, primarily dealing with employee retirement issues. Mungovan, the firm’s Chair and immediate past head of litigation, has developed a vocal peer following. One extols, “I think he’s superb. He’s not just a figurehead – the guy is a seriously good lawyer, absolutely dynamite.”
      LA’s Bart Williams, not only one of the firm’s most celebrated trial lawyers but also the country’s, has been at the forefront of several milestone matters every year, with this one being no exception. “Bart is the driver of Proskauer’s litigation practice in LA,” insists a local peer. “His practice is just so spectacular, and what he says is very important.” Williams acted with LA’s Susan Gutierrez as trial counsel for Gilead Sciences, securing a landmark win in a $3.6 billion antitrust case on allegations that the pharmaceutical company struck an anticompetitive "pay-for-delay" patent settlement related to two of its HIV medications. In July 2023, a San Francisco jury delivered a full defense verdict following a six-week trial. Williams, along with swiftly rising New York star Lee Popkin, was also trial counsel for Monsanto in a jury trial that was scheduled to commence in March 2023 in San Francisco. The case was brought by an alleged former user of the Monsanto herbicide Roundup and his wife, who claimed that Roundup caused him to develop non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The matter settled favorably for the client on the eve of the trial. LA’s Shawn Ledingham, a future star with a burgeoning following, was also part of the team. “I think the world of him,” opines a peer, confiding, “I wish I could hire him! I think he’s going to be heard about in national cases in another five years.” Another LA-based future star, Vinay Kohli, a healthcare-focused partner, is cheered by a peer as “so underrated – more people need to be talking about him, including Benchmark!”
     Proskauer has been particularly active, and successful, in the antitrust capacity as of late. Chris Ondeck, co-head of the firm’s antitrust group and co-head of its DC office, scored big for Wayne Farms when, after nearly seven years of litigation, he secured a complete victory at summary judgment in the broiler chicken litigation, in which plaintiffs alleged that the top 21 chicken producers in the US, including the client, unlawfully agreed to work together to reduce the supply of chicken over a 10-year period as part of a two-hub conspiracy. Plaintiffs claimed damages valued at $45 billion in total. Wayne Farms is one of a small group of defendants that has not settled any part of the case, and instead proceeded to summary judgment. In June 2023, the court granted summary judgment in favor of Wayne Farms and six other defendants, with one additional defendant (who, while being represented by another firm, was not granted summary judgment) is scheduled to proceed to trial in September 2023. Ondeck also led a team that included Ledingham and two other antitrust partners, DC’s Colin Kass and LA’s Colin Cabral, to secure a landmark victory for Sanderson Farms against the same allegations. The Proskauer team defeated a damages claim totaling more than $7 billion, which, had the jury ruled against Sanderson, would have been automatically trebled.
     New York’s Brad Ruskin remains as active as ever in matters concerning the firm’s famed sports practice, with a carousel of cases on the go for various athletic leagues and associations. Ruskinis defending Major League Soccer (MLS) against a federal lawsuit brought by the North American Soccer League (NASL) against MLS and the US Soccer Federation following US Soccer’s decision not to sanction NASL as a Division II professional league for the 2018 season. NASL alleges that MLS and U.S. Soccer are engaged in an antitrust conspiracy to ensure that MLS is the sole Division I soccer league in the United States, and further alleges that MLS is an illegal monopoly. A trial has been scheduled for September 2024. Sandra Crawshaw-Sparks, who divides her time between New York and LA, helms another celebrated Proskauer pillar practice, entertainment litigation. Crawshaw-Sparks is defending Live Nation and Madonna in a class action alleging breach of contract and false advertising in connection with alleged late starts for shows in Madonna’s Celebration Tour.

Whether inadvertently or by design (most opinions favor the latter) Quinn Emanuel has developed into the firm virtually all members of the litigation community are talking about; few conversations are had with fellow litigators without the foregone conclusion of Quinn Emanuel’s name being dropped somewhere. The firm has had unparalleled success in building a litigation-only empire that is unrivalled in its size and scope, growing from its Los Angeles roots to make inroads into dozens of other jurisdictions nationally and globally. The firm has also developed a well earned reputation for hard-fought, trial-tested litigation. “If we’re up against someone like Quinn, it’s going to be a much harder fight,” confides a peer. “They take a similarly aggressive, tactical approach.”
     Quinn’s national footprint and bench strength got a significant boost over the past year when its Chicago office, referenced as “quite small” before, lured in a host of partners from another global juggernaut, Kirkland & Ellis, a firm headquartered in Chicago and a name brand in the city. A local peer marvels, “This is MAJOR! Quinn has been trying to establish themselves in the Chicago market – and doing the whole ‘Quinn thing’ of ‘We’re going to move in and dominate’ – for years. And they weren’t failing, but they weren’t wildly succeeding, either. That’s changed now – they took some real heavy hitters from Kirkland, some of their biggest rainmakers! So I suspect we’ll see them a lot more now.” Another elaborates, “Quinn’s play for Chicago was a big one, and it paid off. But to be clear, Quinn remains a national firm, and these people are national. They won’t just be trying cases in Chicago.” The firm is also now a noted player in Wilmington, Delaware. “Quinn has a big pipeline of work coming into Delaware through their network,” confirms a peer. Another concurs, “Quinn has just done a ton down in Delaware. I don’t know exactly who but they’re just always there! They just have a big market share.” Another peer addresses the “who” question: “They got Mike Barlow (formerly with celebrated Delaware boutique Abrams & Bayliss), who is terrific, a solid guy, and has always had a relationship with Quinn even at his former firm. He is outstanding, and he’s probably working around the clock right now, poor guy.” Another peer quips, “I don’t mind Quinn being in Delaware, because they’re going to bring big cases to town!” The firm also benefited from the addition of Michael Swartz, a securities litigator and a particular authority in the crypto space formerly with Schulte Roth & Zabel, to its New York office.
     New York’s Mike Carlinsky has long been one of the most ubiquitous commercial litigation names at Quinn and in the market generally. “We’re always up against Mike Carlinsky,” confirms a frequent opponent. “He is still very prolific.” A team composed of Carlinsky, Chris Kercher, Barlow and DC white-collar star William Burck secured a landmark trial victory for 3D-printing innovator Desktop Metal, obtaining an order of specific performance requiring Nano Dimension to complete its $300 million acquisition, which it agreed to in July 2024, despite an activist investor's attempt to derail the deal upon seizing control of the board in December. Following a two-day trial, Nano was directed to sign the required regulatory agreement within 48 hours and close the transaction. Nano did not appeal, and the $300 million merger closed in April 2025. In another matter, Burck represented Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin in a lawsuit against the IRS regarding the unlawful disclosure to ProPublica of a trove of “Secret IRS Files” that included confidential tax information from thousands of America’s wealthiest taxpayers. From the inception of the case, the IRS refused to take any responsibility for the data breach, initially suggesting that the confidential data was not stolen from the IRS, and even seeking dismissal of the lawsuit by arguing that the data could have come from a “hostile foreign actor.”  The Government sought a stay of discovery, fought subject matter jurisdiction, and moved to dismiss the theory of liability to hold it accountable for the actions of an admitted contractor – all unsuccessfully. Then, as part of the resolution of the case, the IRS issued a rare public apology to Griffin. Carlinsky and Burck have enjoyed long successive runs as two of Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers. A new addition to that list in this edition, New York’s Alex Spiro receives widespread support for his inclusion. “Alex is out there and deserves to be mentioned,” insists a peer. “He is young and brash, and lives for litigation. He gets involved in every celebrity case, which his approach is perfect for. Want to see his book of business? Read the entertainment news!” Spiro has represented actor Alec Baldwin in civil and criminal proceedings related to the accidental shooting of two people on a movie set, for which the State of New Mexico announced criminal charges against Baldwin. Beyond the entertainment sphere, peers attest, "Alex Spiro’s been doing strong work on high-profile sexual misconduct and employment-related cases." Another peer insists, “I want to put in a word for Luke Nikas. Although I had a very contentious relationship with him, I did respect his intellect and his ability to fight hard but also be collegial.”
     Another famed trial lawyer, San Francisco’s William Price led a team that was retained as trial counsel in a high-stakes antitrust case in the Northern District of California. The Quinn Emanuel team parachuted in to try the case with co-counsel at Cohen Millstein just months before trial. After 12 days of trial, a jury reached a unanimous verdict in November 2024 awarding client Pacific Steel Group $110 million. The dispute arose when a Texas-based competitor purchased and shut down California’s only rebar mill, creating a regional monopoly in the rebar market. Pacific Steel planned to disrupt this monopoly by building a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly steel mill using advanced Itechnology.  The competitior allegedly pressured the supplier to block Pacific Steel from accessing the necessary technology by creating a 500-mile radius “exclusivity” zone around the steel mill they bought and shut down.   

Intellectual property and commercial litigation boutique Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg has made a notable impression on the legal community in fairly short order. Formed as Reichman Jorgensen in 2018 upon the departure of trial luminary Courtland Reichman from McKool Smith in order to launch this venture, the firm underwent a branding overhaul in 2021, continuing to build upon its pedigree and swiftly rising market profile. A peer marvels, “They started national! And yet they are still lean and nimble.” Another notes, “They are known for doing a lot of IP work but it’s more than just standard patent cases – it’s more diverse, with a lot of it crossing over into antitrust and even bankruptcy. And they seem to be more diverse in the types of patent work, too. It doesn’t seem like it’s beholden to pharma work – it’s a broader industrial spectrum, and it seems like more tech.” Reichman Jorgensen is also a majority women-owned firm, and, most notably, it has focused on fostering a trial-forward agenda. Peers address the firm as “smart and hungry.” The firm’s unique structure – a litigation boutique that spans a national footprint, was amplified further when its network of offices (which include Silicon Valley, Washington, DC, Atlanta and New York) when it launched an office in Austin, Texas in August 2023. With regard to the firm’s patent practice, peers note that “They are getting hired for a lot more DEFENSE cases now. In the first couple of years, it seemed like a lot more plaintiff work – you get a couple of big plaintiff wins, you get more plaintiff work. But then the defense bar sees this and says, ‘Oh, you’ve got all of these plaintiff cases, you must be really good lawyers. How about doing some work for us?’”
     The firm made a notable addition to its new Austin office in February 2025 with the addition of Scott Cole, an IP trial lawyer who spent 20 years at McKool Smith before leaving in 2021 for brief stays at Quinn Emanuel (opening that firm’s Austin office) as well as his own solo endeavor before joining Reichman Jorgensen to further its Texas buildout. Cole attends to a mixed practice that emphasizes plaintiff non-practicing-entity work, largely acting on behalf of entities holding varied tech patent portfolios. Matt Berkowitz, in the firm’s Silicon Valley office, has also been building a practice with a noted emphasis on plaintiff-side work, an opportunity not afforded to him before joining the comparatively flexible arrangement offered by Reichman Jorgensen. His recent engagements include serving as lead counsel for Valtrus in its enforcement of Hewlett Packard patents in multiple litigations in the cellular and networking space and data center-cooling technology. Reichman, also based in the firm’s Silicon Valley office, is revered by peers as “a trial veteran, which is unique at his relatively young age, but not that surprising, seeing as how he got his chops through his time at McKool.” A client calls him “a strong advocate and a true trial lawyer,” and goes on to quip, “I only wish there more of him.” In April 2024, Reichman and DC’s Christine Lehman secured a staggering $525 million patent infringement verdict for Kove IO against Amazon Web Services at a trial in which the jury found that the defendant, through its use of Kove’s technology for its cloud business, infringed all three patents at issue in the litigation. “This was huge,” marvels a peer. “They [the Reichman Jorgensen team] literally put the opposing firm out of business!” Almost a year to the day, the same duo scored an $84 million willful patent infringement verdict on behalf of Cirba (dba Densify) against tech giant VMware. The verdict was announced in May 2023, following a five-day jury trial. Sarah Jorgensen, who is based in the Atlanta office and has a practice focused more on commercial litigation, works with Reichman on multiple matters concerning several municipalities’ ban on natural-gas hookups. Michael Feldberg, based in New York, represents Barclays Bank in multidistrict consolidated class actions alleging that several major global banks, which were members of The London Gold Fixing Company, conspired to suppress the price of gold from 2004 to 2012. With nearly $8 billion in potential damages at stake, Barclays agreed to a settlement, which was approved in August 2022.

Sanford Heisler Sharp continues to be a formidable opponent to management-side labor and employment litigators, even garnering their praises for the sophisticated and oftentimes complex cases. “I look at what they’re doing – I think that they bring a lot of really interesting cases – sets a tone for what the new issues are going to be,” declares an opposing peer. The firm has achieved widespread, national recognition in a variety of labor and employment regards, distinguishing itself across markets. As a plaintiff-side law firm, Sanford Heisler has organized a diverse and strategic network of offices, including New York, Maryland, DC, California, and Tennessee.

     While employment litigation is the firm’s primary focus, Sanford Heisler is also dedicated to representing victims of crime and civil rights offenses. Renowned trial lawyer recognized as a Top 50 Labor & Employment Litigator and chairman of the firm, David Sanford has been the lead lawyer representing the brother of murder victim, Hae Min Lee in his appeal of the Baltimore City circuit court’s decision to vacate the conviction of the alleged murderer. The case has received significant attention as the subject of both a 2014 podcast and an HBO documentary. Sanford and the team – comprised of Andrew Melzer, Kevin Sharp, and Jeremy Heisler, among others – challenged the hearing, contending that it violated Maryland’s statutory and constitutional crime victims’ rights, which would have afforded the family adequate notice and opportunity to participate in the proceedings. Sanford’s motion for full appeal was granted and the Appellate Court granted the team’s motion to remand the case to the circuit court, following a successful oral argument.

     Melzer and Heisler both practice out of the New York office. Melzer additionally represents plaintiffs alleging unlawful deductions from drivers’ tips, failure to provide adequate meal periods, and failure to pay for work performed during said periods. The lawsuit further alleges that the drivers were misclassified as independent contractors. Heisler worked alongside DC litigator Kate Mueting representing Donna Kassman as class representative in a lawsuit filed against KPMG. Mueting, serving as lead lawyer on the case, filed the action to remedy the company’s systemic discrimination related to pay, promotions, and pregnancy, and hold the company accountable for alleged failure to properly investigate and resolve complaints. Mueting and Heisler secured a $10 million settlement on the Equal Pay Act claims. Tennessee’s former Chief Judge Sharp and DC-based chairman of the firm, Sanford, are representing a class of former African American Deput US Marshals and Detention Enforcement Officers in their lawsuit against the US Marshals Service, asserting alleged race discrimination claims against the Service, including candidates who were not hired. The EEOC administrative judge approved and certified the class, and the team has been engaged in discovery since the 2017 order.

     In New York, Russell Kornblith leads a Title IX class action against Harvard on behalf of female students in the Anthropology Department. The case alleges claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. The duo prevailed against Harvard’s motion for summary judgment and motion to dismiss earlier this year. His casework `over the last year also includes an ERISA action filed individually and as a representative of a class of employees working at the consulting firm West Monroe Partners. Kornblith’s clients allege that the company and its executives used layoffs and other avenues to cash out shares of former employees in their ESOP. The case is active in litigation after he prevailed against the opposing counsel’s motion to dismiss. Alexandra Harwin has also taken action against 401(k) mismanagement, filing breach of fiduciary duty claims under ERISA on behalf of 200,000 UnitedHealth Group employees and plan participants. Harwin obtained class certification and a settlement conference is set to occur this year. On the employment side of her practice, she is lead counsel representing Graham Chase Robinson in a case against Robert De Niro and Canal Productions, his corporate entity. The lawsuit alleges claims of hostile work environment and retaliation. Harwin is actively gearing up for trial.

     New York’s Michael Palmer is leading the case on behalf Siddarth Breja, former Senior Vice President of JUUL, alleging whistleblower retaliation against the company after he complained about unlawful practices. Co-chair of the firm’s whistleblower and qui tam practice group H. Vincent McKnight provides strategic specialty knowledge and assistance on the case.

     Hailing from the San Francisco office, Danielle Fuschetti serves as the firm’s co-chair of the discrimination and harassment practice group. In that area, she is the lead lawyer representing an individual plaintiff against Xilinix, a pioneer in adaptive computing and leader in the semiconductor industry. The lawsuit alleges sex-based pay disparities, hostile work environment, and sex discrimination claims, in addition to alleged intellectual property theft of marketing materials. Fuschetti is actively litigating the case and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, unjust enrichment damages in connection to the IP and trade secrets theft, which is estimated to be roughly $350 million, in addition to other damages and affirmative relief. In addition to discrimination claims, Fuschetti is also involved in 401(k) mismanagement litigation. She is a member of the team as class counsel and represents individual plaintiffs in an action against Walgreens. The plaintiffs, who are participants in Walgreen’s $10 billion 401(k) plan, alleged that the company failed to remove a set of ten target retirement date funds that underperformed in their investment benchmarks. Fuschetti obtained a settlement of $13.75 million. Currently, other cases on her docket are against large nationwide companies including JUUL and Oracle, both of which are actively being litigated. Fellow San Francisco litigator Felicia Gilbert successfully resolved a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed on behalf of a former engineer against tech giant Honeywell represented by a nationally recognized labor and employment-focused law firm. Baltimore’s Deborah Marcuse is recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a Top 50 Labor & Employment Litigator for her recent work.

Sidley Austin occupies a prestigious position that has grown far beyond its Chicago roots and blossomed into a full-service international powerhouse. “They really cover the waterfront,” declares a peer, speaking to depth and breadth of the firm’s practice portfolio. “They have some great people across almost every area.” While the firm has grown to global stature, it is still considered primarily for its national footprint, particularly in its offices in LA and San Francisco, Dallas, DC and New York, as well as the aforementioned Windy City. The firm is also cheered for its approach to litigation; one peer testifies, “I’ve recently had good experiences with Sidley. They are not only good litigators but there’s also an ethic there across the board. You can tell how they lean, they’re very polite, and I value that. I view that as someone you want to work with. You know, we’re in litigation, but we don’t have to be doing battle all the time.”
     The firm’s DC office, already considered one of its strongest, made a significant augmentation in 2024, when it lured Greg Williams and Richard Smith to its ranks from Wiley Rein. “Greg and Richard were at Covington [& Burling] before – they seem to be moving in parallel! They are both great, and that’s a nice boost for [Sidley.]” Williams’ hire has been viewed as a strategic enhancement to the firm’s international arbitration and litigation practice, which has historically been regarded as one of the country’s most seasoned. The firm’s DC office is also home another Covington alumnus, Jennifer Saulino, a product liability star who makes the remarkable three-pronged debut in Benchmark as a litigation star, one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America, and one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation on the strength of some considerable credentials and peer review. “Jennifer belongs in the top league,” insists another peer on the Top 100 Trial Lawyers list. “She’s versatile and great on her feet in court, where she spends a lot of time.” Saulino obtained a major victory on behalf of Roundup herbicide manufacturer Monsanto in a product-liability trial alleging that Roundup was linked to the plaintiffs’ injuries. In March 2024, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their case with prejudice, unable to prove that Roundup was the cause of their alleged injuries. The judge accepted the dismissal with prejudice and discharged the jury. The DC office is also home to not only the firm’s but the country’s top appellate luminaries, Carter Phillips. “I often forget to mention him, not because he’s not still killing it, but just because I take it as such a given,” states a peer. Phillips secured a major victory when the Second Circuit affirmed a judgment against Lynn Tilton and her companies for breaching her fiduciary duties to TransCare and conducting an actual fraudulent conveyance. Phillips argued the appeal and led the briefing team. DC’s William Levi is namechecked as the next generation of appellate firepower. “Will came into a case we had involving Microsoft, and he was the lead on the legal issues team. He’s not a trial lawyer, but he’s a great appellate counselor. He can write a brief on the fly that tells the judge the facts with common sense.”
     Based in the New York office, Eamon Joyce, who makes the leap from future star to litigation star in this edition, recently successfully settled the last of a series of putative class action cases, which began in 2014, involving allegations that Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s flushable wipes are not in fact flushable. In a series of cases filed around the country, plaintiffs (consumers and municipalities) alleged the claims of “flushable” and “sewer-and-septic safe” on the packages for Cottonelle and other Kimberly-Clark brand flushable wipes were false and misleading. In the firm’s San Francisco office, Sarah Brody is routinely championed by peers in securities capacity. “I’m a big fan of Sarah,” declares one, “and she’s got a great practice. She has had a lot of cases involving startups – there are a lot of them in the Bay Area – that go public…and then they fail. Sarah has had a sweet spot with that.” In the labor and employment practice, Wendy Lazerson is praised by a client as “very experienced, smart, and knowledgeable, who diligently and thoughtfully represented our interests.” In the Los Angeles office, Debra Pole has long been acknowledged as a product liability trial lawyer. “She’s still a rockstar,” enthuses a peer. “She still commands the room.”

With 21 offices throughout the US, Europe and Asia, Skadden has long been a totem of excellence in the global legal community as a full-service one-stop shop. While its capabilities span a wide spectrum, litigation is a key pillar. “Skadden has so much deal flow,” observes a peer, “that an equally strong litigation bench is essential. [Skadden] certainly has that to spare.” Virtually all of the firm’s domestic offices house an ample grouping of litigation stars, with peers noting that Skadden has strategically doubled down on the Los Angeles market as of late. “LA is a dynamic market right now, and it is increasingly the tip of Skadden’s litigation spear.”
     The observation of the firm’s bench strength in LA can arguably be best exemplified by the recent hire of Manuel Cachán, who boasts a proven trial lawyer pedigree. “He was a ‘must-get’,” quips a peer. “Skadden really scored there. He’s going to be trying the biggest and most important cases.” While Cachán, who earned his stripes at revered LA boutique Munger Tolles as well as a stint at Proskauer, is a multifaceted business litigator, he has most recently minted himself a pole position in the product liability area.
     Skadden is also known for its blue-ribbon securities practice, mainly operating from New York. Jay Kasner has long been a leading figure in this area and continues to be. A peer marvels, “Jay is still humming along strong! He still shows up and delivers the goods like someone half his age. I don’t know how he does it.” Perhaps more remarkably, Kasner has demonstrated his prowess with newer and more novel industries like cryptocurrency. He recently represented Coinbase, who was sued in March 2022 by plaintiffs who alleged that the client operates as an unregistered securities exchange because 79 digital assets traded on the platform are actually securities. The plaintiffs sought to rescind their transactions and to recover monetary damages, as well to force Coinbase to register as a national securities exchange or broker-dealer. In February 2023, the claims were dismissed in their entirety, with prejudice. While Kasner remains the firm’s most seasoned securities partner, others are quickly becoming the names of the next generation. Alex Drylewski has developed and demonstrated a particular prowess in the crypto area. Drylewski and Tansy Woan secured the dismissal with prejudice of a securities class action brought against crypto-focused investment advisor, Paradigm Operations, and other investors in Uniswap Labs, the developer of Uniswap, a decentralized digital asset protocol. The plaintiffs claimed that defendants profited from the sale of scam tokens while users lost money to anonymous issues of the tokens traded on the Uniswap protocol. The Southern District of New York ruled that the backers did not sell the tokens at issue and were therefore not at fault, and plaintiffs concerns should be addressed by Congress rather than the courts. In September 2023, the plaintiffs appealed the district court’s decision to the Second Circuit. In February 2025, the Skadden duo secured a decision affirming the dismissal of the putative class action.  Scott Musoff has become particularly prominent in terms of visibility and activity. “Scott Musoff is awesome,” extols a peer. “[He’s the] nicest guy in the world, easy to work with, and still relatively young.” The duo of Kasner and Musoff were enlisted to replace existing counsel representing theme park entity Six Flags and certain directors and offices, who were faced with a class action alleging the company and the defendant officers issued false and misleading statements concerning the progress and accounting for certain Six Flags-branded theme parks to be built in China. The Skadden pair triumphed for the client in June 2023. A bi-coastal team composed of Kasner, Susan Saltzstein, Los Angeles partner Peter Morrison and Palo Alto partner Mark Foster scored an October 2024 victory with the dismissal of a putative securities class action filed against Hawaiian Electric Industries and certain of its current and former officers stemming from the devastating August 2023 wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii. The plaintiffs broadly allege that the client misled investors to believe that the utility was taking appropriate action to mitigate wildfire risks. The court held that the client could neither be held liable for statements made by its subsidiaries nor had the plaintiffs sufficiently plead falsity or scienter. Musoff and Los Angeles partner Winston Hsiao represented Myriad Genetics and certain current and former board members and executives in derivative litigations arising out of public statements Myriad made regarding its flagship pharmacogenetic test GeneSight. In 2023, the Skadden duo parachuted into a related federal securities litigation and brokered a favorable settlement. In 2024, the team took over settlement negotiations in the tagalong derivative actions and negotiated a settlement comprised of corporate reforms and a minimal attorneys’ fee award to the plaintiff’s counsel. The Delaware Court of Chancery approved the settlement and dismissed the action with prejudice.
     A New York team of Saltzstein and Patrick Rideout scored on behalf of Johnson & Johnson in a case concerning a shareholder’s proposal that J&J's shareholders adopt a bylaw requiring individual arbitration of securities class actions against the company and its officers or directors. Rideout has developed his own fan base as well. “If I had a bet-the-company case of any kind that had a likelihood of going to trial, that’s who I’d call,” insists a peer. “He is a problem solver and a no-nonsense litigator but has a sense of humanity to him that I find gets lost in a lot of those large, complex cases of the type that he gets involved in.”
     Skadden has seen an increased level of activity in other areas as well. New York’s Timothy Nelson and Julie Bédard, who works out of the firm’s New York and São Paulo offices, are noted standouts. Both are experienced and active with tribunal matters such as ICC and ICSID. The firm also scored a key recruit in the antitrust arena, James Fredericks, who joined the DC office after decades acting as a prosecutor with the DoJ. A peer in this capacity advises, “Look into him! He’s only been with the firm about four weeks so far [as of spring 2024] but this is a major feather in Skadden’s cap.”

Historically known as an “old-line Houston firm” (and still a dominant force in that metropolis), within fairly short order Susman Godfrey has reinvented itself as a litigation juggernaut with national ambitions, which it has fulfilled through its offices in New York and Los Angeles. These offices, while newer, have quickly become key players in their respective markets due to each being populated by high-level trial talent juggling a hybrid of plaintiff and defense commercial, antitrust, securities and intellectual property litigation with exceptionally high stakes. “Susman is the gold standard, still the best,” opines a Texas peer. “They started as a boutique but [they are] not one boutique anymore – they are 140 lawyers in three states! They are kicking ass and taking names.” Susman is universally revered for its dedication to a prized culture – developed and fostered by founding partner and (since-deceased) trial lawyer extraordinaire Stephen Susman – that grooms the “elite corps” of litigation. Peers acknowledge the firm’s strategic expansion with typical admiration. “Susman Godfrey is a like a litigation boutique that has gone haywire - in a good way! They didn’t just grow for the sake of adding headcount. They put fabulous people in all stations.” Eschewing market trends, the firm marches to the beat of its own drum. One peer marvels: “Susman Godfrey is so innovative! They really bring the best of breed in terms of skills, and it’s top-to-bottom. It’s not just a bunch of old guys. Their younger people are every bit as impressive.” Another confirms, “It’s always fun litigating against Susman Godfrey. Then it’s real, then it’s more traditional court work, more hand-to-hand combat, as opposed to the paper pushing and procedural distractions you get from other firms.”
     No stranger to high-profile, newsworthy cases that regularly log headlines in the legal publications, Susman Godfrey landed front-and-center in the middle of a case few could ignore even outside the legal community: the representation of Dominion Voting Systems as trial counsel against Fox News in a defamation lawsuit, initially valued at $1.6 billion, alleging that Fox and the other defendants gave life to a manufactured storyline about election fraud to boost ratings and propagate the lie that the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged, among a series of other false statements about Dominion. The Susman team, composed of New York’s Stephen Shackelford, Houston’s Justin Nelson (who a peer calls a “super sharp lawyer and strategist), and Los Angeles’s Davida Brook, landed a milestone victory in April 2023, securing a $787 million settlement on Dominion’s behalf. This win proved a watershed moment for defamation cases of this variety, sending shockwaves throughout the legal, political and news and entertainment landscapes. The case follows similar matters filed against other figures alleged to have played a role in these fraudulent election claims, such as Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell (MyPillow CEO), and Newsmax, the latter of which the Susman team won partial summary judgment against in 2024. Trial is scheduled for 2025.   

     The firm’s groundbreaking courtroom action for the year certainly doesn’t end with Dominion. New York’s Jacob Buchdahl scored a $1.6 billion judgment in April 2025 after an 11-day bench trial in New York state court on behalf of BML Properties in a long-running fraud lawsuit against China Construction America (CCA) arising from the development of the proposed Bahamian luxury resort Baha Mar, which failed to open on time and eventually faced bankruptcy. The client developed the multibillion-dollar resort complex and hired CCA in 2011 as the construction manager and general contractor for the project. However, beginning in May 2014, CCA deliberately misled the client about its intentions and ability to complete and open the resort to paying guests by March 2015, as planned and agreed to by both parties. Steven Shepard is praised by a client for “identifying the right issues at hand and finding the most appropriate legal solution. Steven's work is always of impeccable quality, and his advocate skills are absolutely brilliant.” Trial evergreen Bill Carmodyand Houston future star Sy Polky secured a $266 million verdict in November 2024 on behalf of the City of Baltimore against McKesson and AmerisourceBergen in the City’s nearly seven-year lawsuit against the opioid distributors and manufacturers that fueled what is purportedly the worst opioid epidemic in the nation. Carmody also led a team that served as lead trial counsel for a class of Direct TV subscribers, the plaintiffs in a case against the NFL concerning Sunday Ticket games, which are no longer available to residential subscribers and must be viewed in a commercial venue or by a YouTube account. The team obtained a victory after three weeks of trial, with a jury finding the NFL engaged in a conspiracy and violated antitrust laws. The jury awarded more than $4.7 billion in damages.
     Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, Marc Seltzer is championed by a client as “a ‘lawyer's lawyer’ –logical, with an encyclopedic knowledge of law in his areas of specialization as well as litigation generally.”Kalpana Srinivasan is hailed as someone who has “done a tremendous job building out that office, particularly in IP and plaintiff work, and has had really stand-up roles in trial.” A team composed of Srinivasan, Seltzer, Carmody, Amanda Bonn (another Los Angeles partner) and Houston’s Max Tribble won a $65.7 million jury verdict in September 2024 after a four-day trial on behalf of Paltalk Holdings, a global communications software innovator, in a patent-infringement lawsuit against Cisco Systems in the Western District of Texas. Paltalk initially filed the lawsuit in 2021 based on infringement of its patent related to hybrid audio servers by Cisco’s Webex products. 

The deRubertis Law Firm was founded by David deRubertis as a boutique litigation firm representing plaintiffs in employment litigation, among other areas of practice. As an employment litigator, he brings cases on behalf of clients in both single plaintiff and class action matters. deRubertis has represented plaintiffs in high-profile cases against household name companies, including a recent equal pay case that has garnered significant media and public attention. Over the last year, he has handled several arbitrations, obtaining awards of over one million dollars.  

A global business firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher has been steadily increasing its litigation profile in both market share and a literal headcount/geographic footprint sense. “A few years ago, I would have said Willkie was a great business firm with a small but good litigation bench,” offers a peer. “Not anymore! They have really doubled down on litigation of late, and it seems to really be working. They are now in several key markets and building several practice areas to rival others.”  While its core strength in the US has historically been New York (and remains so), the firm has branched out and developed other domestic locations as well; it opened a Chicago office in 2020, officially planting its flag on the Midwest legal landscape, continued developing its DC resources, and has doubled down on its expansion in California, where it now has three offices (Palo Alto, San Francisco and Los Angeles.) “The biggest disrupter in the LA market recently has been Willkie Farr,” quips a peer in observation of the firm’s build-out of that office. “I feel like anything that’s not nailed down, they’re trying to take!”
     Willkie’s bet on California has paid dividends; the firm has attracted star partners in each office. In Los Angeles, that office’s managing partner Alex Weingarten is a peer favorite. “Alex is the real deal. He represented Jamie Spears [father and former conservator of Britney], and I thought he did a very good job with that,” opines one peer. “Alex was at Venable before moving to Willkie,” states another peer, who goes on to confide, “I was trying to get him to come here! He’s a terrific litigator who has some high-profile entertainment clients. [He’s] Unbelievable!” Weingarten represents The Chosen, Inc. producers of the popular television series, The Chosen. The client is engaged in an arbitration against a licensor of the series Angel Studios.  Angel Studios has dramatically exceeded the scope of its licensed use of the series and is using its affiliation with the client to improperly promote its unrelated content.  An arbitration hearing was commenced in March 2024. Acting with Weingarten on this matter is Kori Bell, a white-collar-focused partner with an avid peer following of her own that the firm lured from LA boutique Larson in 2023. Weingarten also represents Fitness Technologies, a software company servicing enterprise fitness boutiques, in its lawsuit against a concerning claims, among other things, the rival has engaged in an scheme to exclude competitors from the industry, including the use of exclusive contracts and non-competes. In San Francisco, Simona Agnolucci, identified by peers as “a real player,” acted with Benedict Hur in leading Google to a March 2024 defense against allegations of violating New York and Minnesota privacy laws by improperly retaining consumer streaming video rental data, such as rental history and personal identification, beyond the legal limits. Agnolucci also acts with Jonathan Patchen in representing Ever.Ag., a  provider of technology, services, and intelligence platforms to the US dairy industry, in a hotly contested trade secret dispute against a Canadian startup competitor that has asserted antitrust counterclaims against the client, alleging that Ever.Ag has illegally monopolized the market for data services for milk producers and processors in the US through anticompetitive contracts and acquisitions of competitors. A peer also insists, “Let’s talk about [San Francisco-based IP-focused future star] Barrington Dyer – he’s great!”
     In the New York office, the firm continues to enjoy esteemed positions in the insurance and securities spaces. In the former practice, Christopher St. Jeanos represents AIG, which has a major role in current and expected future coverage disputes arising from the opioid lawsuits. There are now 15 active litigations against 13 different policyholders. “He’s a stand-up lawyer,” insists a peer, “and I think he’s only in his mid-40s! My litmus test when it comes to dealing with counsel is ‘Are you just a paper tiger?’ And Chris is not – he’s the real deal.” Securities partner Tariq Mundiya is representing Zayo founder, CEO, and Chairman Dan Caruso in an action arising out of a $14.3 billion buyout of Zayo by a consortium of equity co-investors. Plaintiffs claimed that Caruso breached his fiduciary duties by steering the sales process towards an acquirer so he could capture upside through a roll-over of his stock and remain as CEO post-merger. They further alleged that the company’s board was aware of the CEO’s actions and did not properly oversee his actions to maximize stockholder value and that Caruso was liable for making misleading disclosures and omissions in a proxy statement recommending that stockholders approve the merger. Another securities partner, Todd Cosenza represents several current and former Board Members of Wells Fargo & Company in a civil RICO action. The plaintiff is a business owner who contends that he was injured when about $1.3 million of three of his companies’ funds were deposited into unauthorized deposit accounts and then withdrawn without authorization.
  Craig Martin, Chairman, Americas, joined Willkie in 2020 from Jenner & Block and has continued to build out the firm’s Windy City office. Martin’s practice encompasses a wide spectrum of commercial litigation, white-collar work, intellectual property, and pro bono human rights issues.

With a network of international and domestic offices, WilmerHale has built a reputation as a global powerhouse. Nationally, the firm’s original mainstay in Boston continues to secure near-unanimous recognition in litigation, and the New York, DC and California offices have further bolstered the firm’s top-tier standing. It is lauded for its litigation capabilities nationwide, particularly antitrust, white-collar, securities and appellate, as well as intellectual property, one of the firm’s most notable practices. The firm has also increasingly developed a name for itself in the international arbitration space as well. “Wilmer is one of the foundational groups in the business,” insists a peer. “A lot of this is through its London office but it is also really gathering strength in the US as well. Keep an eye on this.” Further amplifying the firm’s service offerings, WilmerHale litigators continue to demonstrate a keen prowess with trials, with several key courtroom wins on display from practitioners in several offices and across varied practice areas.
     In the firm’s famed IP practice, Boston-based but nationally recognized Bill Lee needs no introduction; he continues to be universally regarded as a celebrity of the patent litigation community. “I tried two Qualcomm cases against him,” testifies a former opponent. “Bill is quite senior but still very active and still very good.” While Lee made headlines as counsel for Apple in the “smartphone wars” litigation, the baton for that client has effectively been passed to another Boston-based patent trial star, Joseph Mueller, tipped by many peers to be Lee’s successor. Mueller triumphed for Apple in a billion-dollar dispute with an entity that was alleged that Apple wrongly acquired its trade secrets from a for pulse oximetry technology incorporated into the Apple Watch. The court decided for the client in a May 2023 decision, although a retrial is scheduled for November 2024. “Joe Mueller has the trial skills and IP know-how to get Bill Lee’s blessing for sure,” asserts a peer. In another high-profile patent win, DC’s Greg Lantier won a sweeping victory for Dropbox in the company’s first-ever trial in May 2023, when a federal jury found all patents not infringed and invalid in a complex patent-infringement case. 
     The firm’s unassailable IP roster is bookended on the West Coast by Sonal Mehta, one of the youngest and most championed stars of the Bay Area/Silicon Valley patent community. Mehta, who earned her stripes at celebrated (but now defunct) San Francisco litigation boutique Durie Tangri, has been lead counsel on several groundbreaking patent actions in the past several years and as of late has become a go-to for social-media juggernaut Meta – corporate parent of household names Facebook and Instagram – in several cases involving issues of antitrust, privacy and breach-of-contract, sometimes involving an intersection of any of these three. “Sonal’s practice is tailor made for the Bay Area trendy tech titans,” quips a peer. Mehta added another social media household name to her arsenal of clients with her defense of X (formerly Twitter) in a patent-infringement suit, valued at $600 million and brought by an entity that purchased patents related to online sharing of user-created videos, from a company that had originally filed a case. The initial claims allege that, following talks with X executives about partnering, X instead developed its own products that infringed.

     Beyond IP litigation, Wilmer boasts trial firepower in the securities and commercial space as well, with New York’s Hallie Levin being a frequent mention as a standout in these capacities. Levin is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and put her courtroom acuity on display when she led a team (which included Peter Neiman) that secured a victory for T-Mobile following a five-day bench trial in Delaware Chancery Court in August 2021. The Vice Chancellor granted T-Mobile’s request to enjoin Cox Communications from partnering with any mobile network operator other than T-Mobile to provide wholesale wireless services to Cox.