Benchmark Litigation is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Cookies Settings

Key contacts
Business Development Director - Litigation & Trial: Keri Keane
Quick facts
Partners

975

Practitioners (worldwide)

3850

Languages

60+

Key practice areas
Intellectual property
Trade mark
Patent
Dispute resolution
Firm overview

The Litigation & Trial Department leverages a global platform to provide unmatched legal services. With over 1000 top-tier litigators, we bring experience, insight, and determination to every client. Our pragmatic approach ensures favorable results through effective collaboration with local counsel, co-counsel, and government regulators. We develop aggressive and creative litigation strategies, often resolving matters before trial. When necessary, clients can rely on our ability to win at trial, arbitration, regulatory proceedings, and on appeal.
Antitrust & Competition: Our distinguished team comprises highly qualified lawyers adept in both local and international antitrust and competition matters. We provide expert counsel on merger clearance, cartel investigations, competition-related litigation, IP antitrust issues, and compliance training. Our team is committed to delivering exceptional client service in cases involving monopolization challenges, rapid-response merger litigation, and innovative, high-stakes theories.

Complex Commercial Litigation: Our team combines trial-ready capabilities and business fluency to tackle complex challenges. We represent public and private companies, financial institutions, private equity firms, governmental entities, and high net worth individuals in commercial disputes. Over the past decade, we have tried or arbitrated hundreds of cases to verdict with an extraordinary success rate in US federal and state courts and arbitration panels. Our team includes more than 350 former federal law clerks and more than 35 former federal prosecutors, providing invaluable institutional knowledge and courtroom experience.

Connectivity, Privacy & Information: Our firm brings together a global team of lawyers addressing the critical legal issues arising from digital technology and services, in disciplines including communications, data privacy and cybersecurity, internet law, and digital copyright. Our team handles high-profile litigation, regulatory investigations and counseling, internal investigations, and technology transactions for clients in multiple industry sectors. We handle matters requiring extensive experience in particular areas of the law governing digital commerce, as well as matters that cut across legal silos to deliver exceptional results for our clients.

Environmental Litigation: We represent clients in administrative and regulatory proceedings, enforcement, litigation, transactions, and legislative matters. We help clients navigate complex agency rulemakings, secure approvals for energy and infrastructure projects, and resolve environmental investigations and compliance issues. Our wide-ranging expertise and unique government experience set us apart, delivering successful outcomes in groundbreaking matters worldwide.

Intellectual Property Litigation: Our litigators have unparalleled experience in IP strategy and disputes, including patent, trademark, copyright, trade dress, and trade secrets. We are actively involved in precedent-setting multijurisdictional litigation on a global scale, including extensive experience across numerous U.S. district courts, as well as proceedings before the Federal Circuit, ITC, and PTAB. Our team is comprised of technically trained lawyers, technical analysts, and dedicated IP paralegals, adept at managing cases in diverse industries across life sciences, technology, and more, including semiconductors, software, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, electric motors, engines, emerging technologies, cloud computing and networking, packaging, building products, and banking technologies, among others.

Securities Litigation & Professional Liability: Our Securities and M&A Litigation team is renowned for its exceptional expertise in handling complex securities class actions, shareholder derivative litigation, and litigation arising from M&A transactions. We have defended more federal securities lawsuits than any other firm in the US in the last five years, and our presence in the Delaware courts is unparalleled among our peer firms (Lex Machina). Recognized as the Securities Group of the Year by Law360 in four of the past five years, and consistently ranked #1 by Chambers and Legal500, our team comprises leading lawyers, former federal prosecutors, and senior SEC staff. We are the go-to firm for Fortune 500 companies, major financial institutions, and the Big Four accounting firms, securing high-profile, precedent-setting victories. We excel at resolving matters before trial through dispositive motions or settlements, and have a proven track record in trial success.

Supreme Court & Appellate: Led by a former U.S. Solicitor General, our Supreme Court and Appellate Practice boasts an outstanding record before the U.S. Supreme Court and other appellate courts. Over the past two decades, our advocates have argued more than 100 cases before the Supreme Court, representing Fortune 100 corporations, state governments, leading educational institutions, and individuals. Recently, we secured certiorari in nearly a dozen cases and have prepared briefs for hundreds of cases in both federal and state appellate courts.

White Collar Defense & Investigations: Our firm is at the forefront of advising on white collar and enforcement matters, offering unparalleled expertise in high-profile, sensitive cases globally. We leverage deep experience with regulators and prosecutors to guide clients through inquiries and investigations, skillfully defending against enforcement actions and prosecutions. Our track record includes avoiding charges and achieving full acquittals, often defeating government prosecutions before trial. We represent clients in actions by the SEC, DOJ, PCAOB, FINRA, CFTC, state attorneys general, Congress, and other global regulators. Our team excels in export controls, economic sanctions, and national security-related work, including CFIUS reviews and FOCI mitigation. Our defense lawyers include former senior prosecutors and government officials from top agencies.

Updated Oct 2025

Practice Areas & Sector Specialisations
Other offices

Austin
300 Colorado
St. Suite 2400
78701, USA
T: 1.737.910.7300
 
Boston, MA
200 Clarendon Street
02116, USA
T: 1.617.948.6000
 
Chicago, IL
330 North Wabash Avenue
Suite 2800
60611, USA
T: 1.312.876.7700
 
Houston, TX
811 Main Street
Suite 3700
77002, USA
T: 1.713.546.5400
 
Los Angeles, CA
10250 Constellation Blvd.
Suite 1100
90067, USA
T: 1.424.653.5500
 
New York, NY
1271 Avenue of the Americas
10020, USA
T: 1.212.906.1200
 
Costa Mesa, CA
650 Town Center Drive
20th Floor
92626, USA
T: 1.714.540.1235
 
San Diego, CA
12670 High Bluff Drive
92130, USA
T: 1.858.523.5400
 
San Francisco, CA
505 Montgomery Street S
Suite 2000
94111, USA
T: 1.415.391.0600
 
Menlo Park, CA
140 Scott Drive
94025, USA
T: 1.650.328.4600
 
Washington, D.C.
555 Eleventh Street, NW
Suite 1000
20004, USA
 

Address:
885 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Tel:+1 213 485 1234 Fax:+1 213 891 8763 Web Address:http://lw.com
Rankings published in 2025
Dispute resolution
Highly Recommended
69 firms ranked
View full list

Recommended

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
4 practice areas
View profile
Anderson Kill
1 practice area
View profile
Arnold & Porter
9 practice areas
View profile
Ashurst Perkins Coie
4 practice areas
View profile
Bleichmar Fonti & Auld
1 practice area
View full profile
Brown Rudnick
1 practice area
View profile
Cahill Gordon & Reindel
6 practice areas
View profile
Cohen & Gresser
6 practice areas
View profile
Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna
1 practice area
View full profile
Dechert
5 practice areas
View profile
Elsberg Baker & Maruri
9 practice areas
View full profile
Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
1 practice area
View full profile
Goodwin Procter
4 practice areas
View profile
Greenberg Traurig
9 practice areas
View profile
Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone
4 practice areas
View full profile
Harris St. Laurent
1 practice area
View full profile
Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney
2 practice areas
View full profile
Kaplan Fox
1 practice area
View profile
Kaplan Martin
1 practice area
View full profile
Kasowitz LLP
5 practice areas
View full profile
Kelley Drye & Warren
1 practice area
View profile
Labaton Keller Sucharow
1 practice area
View full profile
Lankler Siffert & Wohl
1 practice area
View profile
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
2 practice areas
View profile
McDermott Will & Schulte
2 practice areas
View profile
O'Melveny & Myers
5 practice areas
View profile
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe
8 practice areas
View profile
Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler
6 practice areas
View full profile
Paul Hastings
5 practice areas
View profile
Pomerantz
1 practice area
View full profile
Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd
1 practice area
View full profile
Robins Kaplan
4 practice areas
View full profile
Ropes & Gray
1 practice area
View profile
Selendy Gay PLLC
1 practice area
View profile
Sher Tremonte
1 practice area
View profile
Walden Macht Haran & Williams
2 practice areas
View full profile
White & Case
4 practice areas
View profile
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
4 practice areas
View full profile
Winston Taylor
8 practice areas
View profile

Highly Recommended

A&O Shearman
3 practice areas
View full profile
Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
1 practice area
View full profile
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
1 practice area
View profile
Cravath Swaine & Moore
1 practice area
View full profile
Davis Polk & Wardwell
5 practice areas
View full profile
Debevoise & Plimpton
9 practice areas
View full profile
Freshfields
1 practice area
View full profile
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
4 practice areas
View full profile
Hecker Fink
2 practice areas
View full profile
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
5 practice areas
View full profile
Holwell Shuster & Goldberg
1 practice area
View full profile
King & Spalding
9 practice areas
View full profile
Kirkland & Ellis
7 practice areas
View profile
Kobre & Kim
1 practice area
View full profile
Latham & Watkins
4 practice areas
View full profile
Levine Lee
1 practice area
View full profile
Milbank
4 practice areas
View full profile
MoloLamken
1 practice area
View full profile
Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello
2 practice areas
View full profile
Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison
5 practice areas
View full profile
Proskauer
9 practice areas
View full profile
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
7 practice areas
View full profile
Sidley Austin
4 practice areas
View full profile
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
4 practice areas
View full profile
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
9 practice areas
View full profile
Sullivan & Cromwell
5 practice areas
View full profile
Susman Godfrey
1 practice area
View full profile
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz
3 practice areas
View full profile
Weil Gotshal & Manges
8 practice areas
View full profile
WilmerHale
4 practice areas
View full profile
Linked Reviews
Dispute Resolution

     Latham & Watkins has handily transitioned from its image as a California-headquartered focused on corporate work. Although the firm did see its origins in the Golden State and has a coveted corporate practice, Latham has also gained a well earned reputation as an undeniable litigation powerhouse whose footprint has not only reached national levels but boasts litigation heavyweights in nearly every one of its US offices across a diverse spectrum of practice areas. “I see Latham everywhere because they are so big,” confirms a peer, attesting to the firm’s domestic dominance. The “so big” litigation bench got even bigger in August 2025 with the addition of all-purpose trial ace David Marriott, formerly with Cravath, a significant augmentation to Latham’s trial horsepower; Marriott has been one of Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America for three consecutive years. The firm’s New York office also got a boost from the arrival of Margaret Graham, a former prosecutor who attends to white-collar and enforcement work as well as commercial litigation. One peer notes, “She just left the office of the Southern District to join Latham!”
     Latham’s antitrust credentials were on display in a decisive victory secured by San Francisco’s Chris Yates and New York’s Larry Buterman for the athletic governing body US Soccer Federation in a high-profile antitrust action filed in the Eastern District of New York. North American Soccer League (NASL) claimed that US Soccer conspired with the Major League Soccer (MLS) to exclude NASL from Division I and II professional soccer and monopolize these markets through US Soccer’s Professional League Standards. Following a three-week trial, the Latham duo persuaded a 10-person New York jury to unanimously find for US Soccer and MLS. The jury's verdict affirmed that NASL’s market definition was contradicted by pre-litigation business records, and that NASL's failures were self-inflicted. A peer confirms, “Chris Yates is one of the few people cornering that intersection of antitrust and sports!”
     Chicago’s Sean Berkowitz, said by peers to “still be crushing it,” chieved dismissal of a shareholder suit filed against Walmart over disclosures related to an investigation concerning opioids, similar to those files against dozens of other entities for their roles in the prescription opioids supply chain. In 2018, Walmart began disclosing these litigations and investigations, warning investors that it could not provide any assurance to the scope or outcome of the investigations—or whether its business, financial condition, or results would be materially and adversely affected. Shareholders brought a securities class action after Walmart’s stock price traded down following Walmart’s lawsuit against the DoJ, seeking a declaration that it had not violated the Controlled Substances Act, and the DoJ then sued Walmart civilly, asserting it had. Berkowitz moved to dismiss the lawsuit explaining that Walmart and its executives timely and accurately disclosed the DoJ investigation and its consequences. The court agreed with and dismissed the plaintiffs’ amended complaint, closing the case.
     Michele Johnson, in the Orange County office, is a frequent presence in the securities litigation capacity, and is recognized as one of the people in this practice to have tried cases. Johnson won a complete dismissal of a $300 million complaint against cardio device entity Edwards Lifesciences in Delaware Court of Chancery, in a decision recently upheld by the Delaware Supreme Court. Edwards acquired Valtech and its Cardioband valve repair device in 2017, with up to $350 million in milestone payments contingent on regulatory and sales achievements over a 10-year period. Dissatisfied with Cardioband's progress, former Valtech shareholders sued Edwards for $300 million, alleging a failure to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop the device. Plaintiffs appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court, and Latham successfully defended the lower court’s decision and reasoning to the Delaware Supreme Court, which affirmed the Court of Chancery’s decision. Johnson also acted with DC intellectual property partner Michael Morin for Sarepta as trial counsel in a major patent and antitrust dispute in Delaware. After a one-week two-phase trial, a Delaware federal jury invalidated the opposing party's patent, upheld Sarepta’s patent, and awarded Sarepta $116 million in lost-profit damages. Johnson also acted with San Francisco’s Melanie Blunschi in securing a first-round dismissal with prejudice for Apple, its five named executive officers, and its board of directors in a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York. On the eve of Apple’s 2023 annual shareholder meeting, the plaintiff, a Teamsters union and Apple shareholder since 2005, filed a lawsuit challenging Apple’s 2023 Proxy Statement and asserted a derivative claim, alleging the board breached its fiduciary duties by awarding “excess” compensation. The court dismissed the complaint with prejudice, finding no indication that the plaintiff could cure the deficiencies in the complaint. Jamie Wine in the New York office also is a noted figure in the securities space, with a practice that also encompasses general trial work – Wine is a noted Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. “I continue to be impressed with Jamie,” declares a New York contemporary.

19 results19 results
Sponsored